Double Trouble
by AzureShadowMoon
Summary: There's no use crying over every mistake, you just keep trying until you run out of cake. OC inserts.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: We do not own SAO

* * *

CHAPTER 1: Where it all Started

* * *

It all started when they were five.

Miharu blames Skyrim.

It's what got both her and her cousin so addicted to gaming. The year was freshly into 2014, and both of their parents were always busy. To satisfy themselves, they played video games.

All.

The.

Time.

Years passed on with every game won, failed, and replayed. It was hardly noticeable the fact they were separating themselves from the world. Even more so, the fact that they're parents were never home.

Miharu was the first to notice.

"Hikari." The eight year old nudged her half asleep cousin, who shot up in alarm at the touch. Hikari blinked sluggishly at the T.V. screen before turning to her blonde companion.

"Did I win?"

"You fell asleep halfway through the boss battle."

"Damn it." The brunette dipped her head before lifting an eyebrow at a disapproving Miharu, "What?"

"You shouldn't curse. It's bad."

"Oh, stick a sock in it."

Ignoring the halfhearted insult, Miharu turned back to the T.V., the only light in the dark living room, watching the 'Game Over' screen, "…Hikari?"

Her cousin yawned beside her, picking up a controller, "What?"

"Where's Kaa-san? Tou-san? Oji-san? Oba-san? It's midnight and their not home…"

Hikari shrugged, becoming entranced in the game again as she maneuvered the controls.

"Does it matter? They're probably late again…"

The blonde gave her cousin a considering glance, before sighing, "Yeah…"

Meanwhile, a grunt like voice in the T.V. yelled 'You have died!'. Hikari cursed under her breath, but flinched under Miharu's accusing gaze.

"That was an accident that time. I swear."

"Uh huh. Give me the controller. I'll show you what a pro can do."

Hikari scowled, but none the less handed over the item.

They beat the game ten more times that night before going to bed.

As they continued to grow, both subtly began to realize the truth. Even if they were, they're parents just didn't exist. They tried though. They'd try to get breaks from work to spend time with their daughters, but it'd always be the same. Even if the cousins were content with the way things were, they're parents worried for their future.

And somehow, they landed under the care of their grandmother at the inn she owned, working for minimum pay wage for what others kids would refer to as 'allowance'.

"I swear…" Hikari grumbled, hanging up white sheets on a clothesline as Miharu washed them next to her, "If I can't play one game console in the next ten minutes, I'm going to regurgitate rainbows."

Unfortunately, they're grandmother disapproved of video games.

"Hikari." Miharu reprimanded, pausing in her furious scrubbing of the white cloth, "We're doing this to help out. Obaa-san is too old to do these things anymore and it's only until your parents come back from America and mine from Africa."

The blue eyed brunette pouted at her cousin, "But we've got a lot of money already. We could buy so many new games! Maybe even a computer for our room."

"Two computers," Miharu corrected, narrowing her equally blue eyes, "I'm not fighting or splitting up time."

Hikari huffed as she strung up another bed sheet, "How long do you think they'll be gone? Kaa-san said they'd be back soon."

"Your parents are going through some sports car fiasco and my parents are helping the African environmentalists. I doubt they'll be back within the month." Miharu stated, and her cousin dipped her head with a sigh.

Just as Miharu said, they're parents did not return.

They first went to their grandmothers house when they were nine, working around the inn. Miharu did the cooking and repaired loose ends, while Hikari did laundry and tended the guest's pets.

In 2019, they turned ten.

"No way." Hikari stared, wide eyed and slack jawed at the twin boxes sitting in her and her cousin's room. They both sat on opposite beds, half on the desks next to them and under a open lamp.

Miharu was first to compose herself.

"Obaa-san…" She truned to the old lady standing behind them, her face set with wrinkles and a kind smile, "are those really…?"

"Hai, Miha-chan…for your tenth birthdays, I wanted to give you something special. Even if it does rot your brains…I figured giving a card just wasn't enough to show my gratitude for you girls." She ruffled both of their hair, Hikari's being chin length and Miharu's extending to her mid back. It snapped Hikari out of her shock to give a gleeful squeal.

"Computers! Actual holographic computers with speakers! Holy smack, you're the best Obaa-san!" She gave the old lady a quick hug around the waist, before darting over to the boxes, Miharu close on her tail.

The computers were pretty average, considering the time of technology. It still had the old keyboards computers use, and the old speakers. The upgrades however, allow additional holographic screens to be displayed from the original.

It sucked every drop of free time from the cousins.

And it only got worse when 2020 hit.

"That's right everyone! The head of Argus, creator of WarriorZ, EverZone, and the popular Hyperion, has finally announced the release date for the long awaited game: Sword Art Online!" A chipper voice came out of the T.V. in the lounge, some perking up to listen to the newscast while others concentrated on their breakfast.

Only Miharu, who was cleaning the coffee table in front of the television, froze. She knew those MMO's, her and Hikari played them almost religiously.

The voice continued, followed by pictures of interviewee's and game masters.

"Sword Art Online is the first of Nerve Gear's games, a virtually active role playing game! Players will enter virtual reality! So cool~!"

Much to customer's surprise, Miharu launched herself over the table, practically gluing her face to the screen. The pictures continued on, showing a strange oval like structure _floating _in the sky, different animals and people with weapons, some more people whacking on an anvil, and terrifyingly large monsters.

"Look forward to the Beta tests, the date is as shown below! Now onto the environmentalist issue in Chad…"

Miharu didn't wait to listen.

She was already half way down the hall, shouting her cousin's name, the date set firmly into her brain.


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I do not own SAO

* * *

CHAPTER 2: Couting Down to Launch

* * *

They started to count the days.

Every morning the two would gather in front of a calendar, take a bright red marker, and mark out the day they just passed. It was followed by going on their computers and looking at the date set on the Argus website, just in case anything changed.

It was always 2022, August 16th, three months prior to when the game's supposed to release. But as the months wore on, problems began to arise.

"Haru-chan!" A twelve year old Hikari walked into the kitchen, greeted by the sight of her cousin working over many different pots and pans to make lunch for the guests. Miharu sent her cousin a halfhearted glare.

"I'm busy now. Come back later."

"We need to talk about _it."_

The blonde put down the pot in her hands and quickly waved her cousin to continue.

"Do you think we'll have enough money, or if school will interfere?"

"So what? We'll just be a little late is all." Miharu sighed, "Money isn't an issue either. We've saved up a bunch, haven't we?"

By Hikari's sheepish grin, she knew they were flat broke.

The cousins worked tirelessly around the inn, hoping to get 'bonuses' or whatever they could to get make money from their jobs. Their grandmother disapproved of their obsession, but at the same time, she merely sent them disappointed glances before letting it go.

Before they knew it, it was the New Year.

"Ahhh, why do we have to be doing this shrine stuff? We could have just celebrated at the inn." Hikari pouted at Miharu, who was busy studying the lights around the shrine, many different people wearing kimono's as well as themselves. Their grandmother stood behind them, also surveying the grounds.

"It's the New Year, Hikari. For 2022, no less." Miharu sent her cousin a knowing glance, and Hikari returned it with an excited grin.

"Yeah, guess you're right. HAPPY NEW YEAR, GAMERS!" The brunette pranced forward, singing out a rather obnoxious tune that left Miharu beat red and their grandmother sighing.

Hikari joined the Karate club soon after, just to pass time before the Beta tests. They didn't realize what a problem that would be though.

"Okay," Miharu held up a checklist as the cousins sat across from each other on their beds, "By this, we have just enough money for the Beta Tests, all the equipment, and accessories. Wanna get Obaa-san so she can agree?"

Hikari didn't answer, and frowned at the floor boards. Miharu blinked at her cousin's mood.

"…Hikari?"

"Um…I got a permission slip."

The blonde raised an eyebrow, "And? What's it for?"

Hikari fidgeted, "For my Karate club."

"Aaaaaand?"

She waited as the room lapsed into silence, and Hikari finally groaned, throwing herself backward onto her bed.

"I'm going to Kyoto for a few weeks to the tournament."

"What?! But…you only joined to club for fun, you're not really going to participate." Miharu set her checklist down, walking over to sit next to her cousin. Hikari threw her arm over her eyes and sighed.

"It grew on me," As an afterthought, she added, "Like rainbows."

Ignoring the randomness of that comment, Miharu poked her shoulder, "So, you're really going to go? Just…miss the beta tests?"

"I guess so." She gave the blonde a mischievous wink, "But when I get back, you better tell me how the game went, 'kay? I want no detail left out. I wanna be prepared for when we actually play the game!"

Miharu laughed, as did Hikari.

The day Hikari left for Kyoto, the Nerve Gear arrived. Their grandmother was still disapproving and it took a lot of convincing for her to allow them to play the real game in three months. Eventually, she relented.

"All set." Miharu grinned, wiping away a dirt smudge on her cheek as she gazed admiringly at her and her cousin's bed. The equipment was hooked up to both computers, cords spiraling around onto twin helmets resting on the pillows. It took a total of four hours to complete, but it was done and ready for sync.

Checking her laptop, Miharu noted the time on the Argus website, counting down till the Beta test's start. "And perfect timing too."

The blonde smiled excitedly, remembering how worried both she and Hikari were that their applications wouldn't be accepted into the beta testers. Looking at the empty bed across from hers, a frown tugged at her lips.

She hoped what Hikari said wasn't true, and that she wasn't giving up gaming for Karate. Then again, this is Hikari. The only other gamer that's matched her.

"There's no way she'd give up. It's just not her style…" Miharu blinked, before dipping her head, "Which means when it's all over, she's going to hound me for information."

Shoving away looming thoughts of social exhaustion, Miharu picked up the Nerve Gear helmet, many different cords connecting it to the computers. Setting it on her head while climbing into bed, Miharu took a completely inappropriate moment to notice how it reminded her of a motorcycle bike helmet.

The four numbers at the top of her vision said otherwise.

'01:00'

Miharu grinned.

"Link Start!"

And everything got lost in color.


	3. Chapter 3

DISLAIMER: I do not own SAO

* * *

CHAPTER 3: Entering the Game

* * *

Hikari was lonely.

Sure, hanging with other club members in the inn they were in was cool, and battling other combatants from all over Japan was another awesome experience. It was an actual excuse to beat someone up, and who wouldn't refuse that?

Her cousin came to mind, which only made her lonelier.

To think said cousin would be playing the best game ever invented in the history of gaming was a bit disheartening. Ever since they were little, they _always _played together. Completive, CO-OP, even online. Not one game has one played that the other hasn't.

As the brunette watched her fellow female teammate's converse around the room they shared, her eyes drifted out the window.

"She better have a good time…"

As things were in the virtual realm, Miharu was definitely _not _having a good time.

When she first entered SAO, a large assortment of colors had bombarded her, and eventually they made sense for her to focus. Buildings, people, and a lot of noise came first. Next was the awe of _oh-my-god-I'm-in-a-game-_

And then she noticed her new appearance.

It seemed all new players started off with multicolored gear, looking eerily like Spartan uniforms, helmets excluded. Of course, if she studied the armor long enough, Miharu could probably identify _exactly _which Spartan they all looked like, but chose not to. She was satisfied with the color blue anyway.

Instead, she set out to discover her surroundings.

The [Starting City] as it was called was probably as big as Tokyo, if not bigger. It was the shape of a perfect circle- Miharu would know, she ran around the whole thing in awe- spanning to the middle where the Town Center was, marked with a fountain. In between running around and gawking at how real everything looked, the blonde began to notice the difference between NPC's and players.

For one, 'markers' indicated their differences, as well as nameplates (no NPC would be named Kuroneko, that's for sure). So, it really wasn't an issue mixing the two up.

Talking to an NPC, however, was a whole different story.

"Hello there." Miharu greeted the old lady at her porch, the marker reading 'Enda'. The lady had a strange orange exclamation point above her head, indication she had a quest or a job that needed completed.

"Hello, dearie, what can I do for you?" The old lady paused in sweeping to stare blankly at the blonde, who shifted a bit under her gaze. It was a computer, but that didn't mean it was sort of intimidating.

"Well…I hear you need help."

Enda sighed, "Then you must have heard how my garden was wrecked by those dastardly boars again. I can't grow anything with them around, and if I don't get money soon, I'll be ruined. Will you please help me?"

Miharu blinked as a small screen opened up in front of her, asking 'Would you like to accept the quest 'Garden Raiders'? With a tally of Boars killed 0/75. Accept or Decline?

The number seemed a bit outrageous, but Miharu briefly remembered reading the manual before entering the game, explaining that leveling was slow and that a lot of patience would be needed. Which only meant the experience required for each level would get larger.

Meaning more and more stuff to kill.

"Sure." Miharu reluctantly pressed the Accept button, and the old lady bowed to her before returning to her duties.

There were two other NPC's with quests asking to kill the boars and one asking to kill wolves. By the time Miharu got the last one, she had entirely explored the [Starting City] in a matter of an hour. With nothing else to do, she set out to the West Field, where many other players were busy trying to learn to attack boars, some in groups while others solo.

Making a peace sign, Miharu threw down her hand into a waving motion that opened a holographic menu screen. On it explained stats, the five thousand experience needed to level, what items she had equipped and not equipped, quests accepted and how far she was to completing it, and then Sword Skills.

Again, Miharu remembered reading about that in the manual, the basic attack being Horizontal, Vertical, and Slant. Gazing around at the crowded field, the blonde decided to venture deeper for less of a chance of being interrupted.

The first floor was the biggest floor of Aincrad, looking as majestic and abnormal as any fantasy realm. Miharu could swear she heard medieval music playing around her. There was floating rocks in the sky, waterfalls, huge trees, and grass that practically went to her knees in some areas. Eventually though, she came to a lake.

Curiously, she peered inside, not really expecting to see her reflection. She didn't see her reflection, but she did see her Avatars. It startled her a bit with how different she looked, with long black hair that went to her back instead of blonde that went past her shoulders. Her eyes were a light pink instead of blue, and she looked probably sixteen instead of thirteen. This new look both baffled her and freaked her out. She wondered, as she approached a group of boars, if her appearance was changeable.

"Okay. Let's do this." Miharu breathed, unsheathing the One-Handed starting sword almost everyone got. The boar in front of her was completely oblivious, munching on grass. If it was an aggressive monster, it would have attacked her already. It was practically the only monster that was passive, though.

Putting her sword at her side for the start of Horizontal, Miharu kept it there before a golden glow seemed to overtake it, and charged at the boar. She even gave a battle cry.

"Take this!" She swung her sword across and in front of her, but miscalculated the distance between her and it, and only manages to barely touch to beasts hide.

But it got its attention.

Miharu quickly backed up as the boar turned on her, red eyes flashing dangerously as it charged her. She scrambled to ready another Sword Skill, this one being Vertical, but the boar was already on top of her before she could start one.

It hit her in the side, knocking her to the ground. It felt like it should have hurt, but no pain came from the hit, and the teen managed to stand up again. But it seemed the boar had no delay, the wait for cool downs after attacks, as it charged into her again.

"Ah! Die already!" Miharu cried, noticing her flashing health bar was going into the red zone. Panic over took her as she took another hit to the side, her health bar dropping, dropping, dropping, until it eventually hit zero.

And just like how she entered the game, everything burst into color.


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: I do not own SAO

* * *

CHAPTER 4: Death is Friendship

* * *

The Room of Resurrection reminded Miharu of a museum.

It was largely the size of a temple, being one giant room fitted with stone white benches. Not many players were there, some sulking, some confused, while one made himself known to his friends by loudly proclaiming 'I JUST FELL OFF OF A CLIFF! IT WAS AWESOME!'. Miharu, though, felt like crying.

Because she'd already died seven times.

She wouldn't be surprised if it was from the same boar too.

Making her way back to the West field, she sourly noted curfew being in half an hour. She'd spent good three and a half already, and she hadn't even killed one thing. Her mind tried to console her with the fact it was only day one, and many other players were probably struggling as well. She still had a month or so to work.

Yet, she couldn't help but slump as she watched a boy her age effortlessly cut through one of the demon boars. The boar hadn't even a chance to attack he was that quick, leaving Miharu to sigh. Squaring her shoulders, she eyed the closest boar, who oddly seemed to be giving her a scowl, as if saying 'bring it, bitch'.

She returned the glare fully.

She _would _kill one, even if it killed her.

…again.

Unsheathing her sword at her side, she waited until it began to glow yellow. Anger still sparking from the boars infuriating stare, she charged forward.

"Hey!"

Startled at the call, the teen jerked her head to the source, veering off course and slamming into the ground with a yelp. It took a while for her to refocus from the fall, but when she did, a hand was extended in front of here.

"Sorry. I didn't think you'd crash."

She took the hand, noticing it was the boy from earlier. He was wearing the standard blue armor, a male version of hers. His hair was black, along with his eyes, as he sent her a raised eyebrow. He looked maybe seventeen, but Miharu didn't think so. She was a thirteen year old in a sixteen year old body. Debauchery could be at work here.

"Did you need something?" She asked, once again reclaiming her fallen sword and eyeballing the all too smug boar that happily munched on grass a few feet away. The boy shifted uncomfortably.

"I…noticed you were struggling and thought I could help."

The girl's eyebrows rose, "I've been struggling?"

"It's hard not to notice." He made a gesture to her right where a group of players were glancing at her, not rudely, but rather _worriedly. _She wasn't sure if it was a step up or down from bullying, but none the less nodded to the boy.

"I saw what you did with Horizontal, and you activated the sword skill just fine." He demonstrated by using his own sword at his side, it beginning to glow blue. Miharu watched intently, her own sword in hand as the boy faced the boar.

"But your letting the auto attack pull you completely through. You can't let it do all the work," He ran through the sword skill charging through the boar, but the boar parried and pushed the boy off, who landed on the ground with an 'oof!'.

Miharu couldn't help it. She snickered.

"Sorry. Sorry." She waved her hand at the halfhearted glare the boy sent her, the boar getting ready to charge again. The boy was already back on his feet.

"That was an example of what not to do." He coughed, readying Horizontal again, "All you have to do, is throw yourself into the attack as you would do in reality. Do a horizontal attack!"

To follow his own command, he threw the sword skill across the boar, running as he did and thrusting his arm fully into the motion. On the side of the boar, a red pixel slice line appeared before the boar shattered into particles of light. Ignoring the loot screen, the dark haired boy turned back to Miharu.

"I think I get the gest." She readied herself, finding another boar amongst the sea of them. The boy smiled.

"Good. You think you can get one?"

"Crossing fingers."

Activating Horizontal again, Miharu charged at the boar. Unlike last time, she didn't falter and timed her attack as precise as she could. It hit the boar, whose health bar dropped halfway into the yellow before charging at the teen.

"It's alright!" Miharu heard the boy call to her as the beast came closer, "Dodge or Parry!"

Settling with the former, Miharu sidestepped the charge. Much like a bullfight would go, the boar stopped a few feet past Miharu position, turning to charge again. Mostly going on instinct, the teen gave it a Vertical slash, completely diminishing its health bar.

It exploded into pixels, leaving a loot screen to pop in front of Miharu's vision. She stared at it, blinking twice, before giving a whoop of joy.

"I did it! My first kill!"

"Don't get so excited." The boy smiled in amusement at her side, arms crossed, "Those boars are equivalent to slimes in other games. It only gives you twenty-thirty experience points per kill."

The joy faded and was replaced with a frown. Opening her menu, Miharu found the boys words to be true. She still had four thousand nine hundred and eighty experience to level two.

"Don't worry," The boy grinned, "The quest rewards should get you five percent into each level."

"What level are you?" She couldn't help but ask.

The boy blinked before scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "Two."

Miharu sighed but bowed, thanking the boy who waved it off with a 'no problem'. As he was walking away, she called out again.

"What's your name?"

He hesitated before speaking, "It's Kirito."

Miharu grinned at him as she opened her menu, sending a friend request the guy's way. He paused as the screen showed up before him, reluctantly accepting the request.

"I'm Sora."

"It was nice meeting you." He waved, a bit awkwardly, before the two departed. One to finish killing boars, and the other to log off for the night.

As Miharu woke up back in her bed, the ear splitting grin she had faded as facts began to roll in her head. She had explored the [Starting City], which would get Hikari's approval.

Killing only one thing in the span of four hours, though, would definitely not.

Shrugging as she set off to prepare dinner for the guests, she'd figure she'd just lie that she got to level two before anyone else. It's not like she would know anyway. All progress is wiped out at the end of Beta testing.

"She won't know a thing."

Somewhere in Kyoto, a brunette sneezed.


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: I do not own SAO

* * *

CHAPTER 5: Strategy is Key

* * *

The week went by quickly for Miharu.

The game sucked up every ounce of free time from her, playing it in between breaks of work and off time. Kirito had been right about not noticing the huge amount to level. The quests seemed endless, going from after boars, then to wolves, then to bears –the first floor seemed to be entirely made of beasts-. Before she realized it, Miharu was already level four.

Unfortunately, it took her this long to realize there was a currency, too.

Col was very much different from Yen, being as one little piece was enough to buy stale bread from the NPC bakery, while one hundred could get you an inn room on the floor (though Miharu couldn't imagine why, unless one was into roleplaying). With questing and killing monsters, Miharu had managed to scavenge up twelve hundred Col.

Considering one gets ten-twenty per kill and double that per quest, it was pretty good.

Kirito was still on her friends list, but she chose to stay away from messaging him. She had only seen him once since their meeting, and it became plainly obvious he liked solitude. While others seem to instantly find party's to group with, he was alone, fighting monsters, all by his lonesome. Lonely.

Miharu almost went to talk to him. Almost.

It was when she noticed how he looked so much happier alone then with others that had her turning her back and heading to another field. He was nice, anti-social, but preferred solo to group.

Miharu didn't mind. She figured that would be the case with most players. Heck, if she hadn't have met Hikari (the very thought was laughable) she'd probably have been a solo player too.

It was near the end of the first week of the beta tests that she discovered Skills.

Miharu had known they had been there, she even read the manual about the unlimited number of them. The very notion was ridiculous, but one day after logging on and finding her skills page blank, with a 'Please select one to put as Active' notification, curiosity kill the cat.

And as she scrolled though the list, her eyes becoming impossibly large, she started to love this game just a bit more.

She made a list of top Skills to learn, or 'Master' to one thousand. Cooking was at the top, followed by Smith, then Sewing, etc. It was when she was about to set forward and learn these Skill's that something astonishing happened.

She received a message from Kirito.

'Raid group for boss forming. Do you want to join?'

She stared. Miharu had to read the message five more times before two very important details hit her. One, Kirito wasn't entirely anti-social or he wouldn't have even bothered with the message. Two, the 1st boss was being cleared today.

. . .

Finally, it clicked.

"Right now?!" She opened her message screen, asking where the group was meeting. It only took a minute before he responded that the group was gathering at [Starting City]. Quicker then she could give herself credit for, Miharu rushed to the nearest town, in hopes of running the trail back to the city.

Horunka was one of the six villages circling the floor and it was also the very first village after the [Starting City]. It didn't take Miharu very long to travel through the village to the city, charging through the streets the city center. It was easy to tell the raid group from the lower levels; for they were still wearing starting armor while the higher levels wore the brown quest leather.

It was easy to tell who was more advanced than the others. There were quite a few with brown armor, the quest items from Horunka. The next was from Torubana, the second village, which was all grey armor- Miharu was among them.

It was surprising when Kirito of all people approached her with _black _armor.

"Hey." He greeted with a nonchalant wave, but paused at Miharu's slack jawed stare, "What is it?"

"Your armor…where did you get it?" The she looked at his sheath, where an ebony sword was _glowing_, "And your _sword!"_

He just blinked, "It was a field boss drop."

Miharu's eyes widened, "But-but- those are _rare. _The gaming guide said there's a one in a thousand chance those will spawn!"

"Yeah," He grinned, "I know."

Miharu gave him a suspicious glance, "Well, that just means I have to work harder."

"Alright, listen up!" All attention went to an elderly man in grey armor, fiery red hair sticking up with a braided beard that went to his torso. Miharu grimaced at his hard glare. He was very intimidating.

"Form up in groups, it would work easier if tanks and damage separated themselves, then we can move on to step two." Kirito tensed, looking like a midlife crisis was about to occur while Miharu remained skeptical.

_If he separated the shield bearers from those with weak armor, us damage doers, _She thought, _it could potentially end badly if the boss attacks one of us. Then again, _she casted a glance at Kirito's armor, _I doubt that will be an issue now._

"Hey." Said boy scratched the back of his head, "Wanna group up?"

Miharu blinked, coming back to reality to see the raid group beginning to head out, the man in red barking orders. A party request appeared in front of her and she casted a glance at a nervous Kirito.

Sighing, she accepted and began to follow the others with Kirito at her side, "You seem really good at this game."

He shrugged awkwardly, "I'm into computers."

Wordlessly, they continued on. With all forty or more players walking down the road, beginners were gawking at the parade, wondering what in the world was going on. Miharu, feeling her cheeks redden at the attention, ducked under her bangs. Kirito, however, didn't look the least bit bothered, actually enjoying the silence.

"Okay, listen up!" The man hollered from the front, "I'll be the main tank, holding the boss's hate. I want two others backing me up," he pointed to said players, whole jolted at the man's glare, "Two others will be doing the same, but keeping between the boss and our damage."

Miharu's earlier doubts were gone, now mildly impressed by the man's orders. _A serious gamer then, _she mused.

"I want damage to be in their groups, and I mean _close. _We don't know what were up against here, but if the boss begins an area attack, you better scatter like maggots!"

"He's like a drill sergeant," Kirito mused beside her, and she gawked at his blunt comment, but he seemed more amused than anything.

The group moved on through the towns, passing the minor villages along the way. Eventually, they reached the large column that was the dungeon. Miharu knew that a lot of players had skipped some villages to get to here. A lot of controversy was going on that the beta testers would never be able to beat the first floor at this rate.

She wasn't surprised when they picked up two more groups while going through the dungeon. Curious, and bored, she began to count how many members of the raid there was. By the time they reached the boss room, she realized there was close to seventy players.

The boss room would only allow forty.

"Alright! I'm going to split you up according to your gear and level!" The man yelled, protests rising up at this, until he gave a fierce yell, "You think your being left out!? If someone dies, you can take their place, meatbags!"

Everyone silenced and he grunted, going through players and separating them from those he didn't deem worthy. It didn't surprise Miharu that Kirito was chosen, but disappointment swam through her when he passed by her without a single glance. It was when he had his forty players assembled, that he stood in front of the remaining thirty players, crossing his arms and resembling a statue.

"Now it's your role," He pointed at them, startling them again, "One among you has to be sub leader! This player will direct who goes in when one dies, got it?" Frenzied nods from the raid. He growled, walking among the ranks and interrogating helpless players with his towering frame. The raid group stood nearby, shifting awkwardly and waiting to actually _do something._

Miharu didn't blame them. But at the same time, she could see why the man was taking precautions. If this failed, he'd be the laughing stock of SAO.

"YOU!" Miharu jumped, turning wide eyed as the raid leader approached her, "What's your level?"

"Four!" She felt like saluting and yelling 'Sir!'.

"Gear Range?" This was something that Miharu caught up on when learning the ropes. Gear Range was depicted in four different areas. Poor was monster drops, something that could be sold for a minimum amount of Col to venders. Good was quest rewards- ranging from village and color-, Unique were from field bosses- such as Kirito-, and Rare was boss drops. Miharu was certain there'd be more levels when the actual game came out.

"It's good."

He grunted, "Any past gaming experience?" He looked doubtful, almost as if he'd hard enough 'no's' from that question. He looked slightly more interested when she replied with a yes.

"MMO experience?"

"EverZone, WarriorZ, Hyperion, Deroga, Skyrim, FatalFury-"

"Whoa," He waved a hand for her to stop, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but did I hear you played…Skyrim?" The level of silence around the area was so strong; you could practically hear the monsters down below spawning.

"…Yes?"

"That game came out nearly a decade ago," He sized her up, "Alright, you're in."

Miharu blinked, "Just…like that?"

"For someone who has nearly ten years of gaming experience? I'm surprised you aren't leading this shin-dig." He crossed his arms and walked forward, ignoring Miharu's gawking.

"Alright, scum! Let's tackle this and get back before dinner!" the raiders cheered, jogging into the boss room with the man leading. After the last one passed the open doors, a blue see through barrier formed. Experimentally, someone touched it, but found their hand couldn't go through.

On the other side, blue flames ignited and a large red humanoid monster stood, resembling somewhat a Minotaur. Four red Hit Point bars formed up, and he withdrew a bone axe and a leather shield. The name [Illfang the Kobold Lord] popped up above it. Already the raid leader was yelling orders.

"Tank group, form up! Damage doers, fall back to maximum range! Those with swords are to stay with the mid field tanks! When the first bar is down, give it your all! YOU!" He pointed at Kirito, who must have realized by now he didn't have a party. The man smirked, "Your coming with me, hot shot."

"What?" He had no time to really respond as the guy was practically dragging him towards the charging boss, barking orders for a certain group of support to deal with any monsters.

Miharu stared, before realization hit her.

_If people start to die, you have to send in someone as good as them to take their place._

"Oh crap!"


	6. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER: We do not own SAO

* * *

CHAPTER 6: The Irony of it all

* * *

Hikari pondered her cousin's life.

A million questions swarmed her head daily, asking what and when and how and why but nothing was giving any true answers. It was the endless cycle of 'what if' that led her to think really outrageous things.

"I bet she's going to get lost. Or die. Maybe she'll get lost then die?"

She had little hope her cousin would survive SAO. Out of the two, Miharu would always hesitate to rethink her options, to make sure they _absolutely _did the right thing. Hikari was the opposite, charging on a whim without a care.

With Miharu, though, people seemed to gravitate towards her. She was the ultimate friend magnet, the logical thinking, the strategist. Someone who Hikari hoped would make a major impact on the Beta Tests and be remembered as 'that player that did this' or 'helped kill that'.

Which led her to a very important question.

What was her cousin doing now?

"Okay everyone," Miharu tried to make her sixteen year old avatar taller in the crowd, "I'm gonna need to interrogate- I mean- get your Stats down. Someone keep watch on the room and call out if support or tanks go down!"

"On it!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

There was a lot of scrambling and rushing around the area. Miharu had just finished getting everyone's skills down when the first red health bar of the boss went down. It gave a shrill yell, backing away from the raid group.

Miniature versions of the boss sprung out in heavy armor, charging at the group. A party separated itself from it and ran to engage them, but Miharu saw it coming when two went to attack the same one. They tripped, yelling as the Sentinel furiously attacked them, before shattering into pixels.

The teen felt her breath escape her as the party was decimated, her mind moving quickly in trying to remember how many were in that group and how many are gonna die now-

She pinched herself, "I need a Spearman out there, you! You with the battle axe, go! Take down those spawns!" She directed two others to follow, and the blue barrier shielded them from the boss room again. A breath of relief whooshed out of her, but it was short lived as the sound of shattering glass reached her ears, and on instinct, she was yelling at a shield user to get in there.

Then things started to get easy.

The tanks moved in unison, with red leader and Kirito double teaming against the boss. The support was spread but managed to be together and away from Hate, the Sentinels taken out accordingly by those Miharu has assigned.

The second bar was depleted, new spawns rushing out to join the fray. Miharu scanned the area a hundred times and more, waiting and sometimes offhand answering to a player behind her. They were as nervous as her. It was up to _them _if the group failed. They were the plan B one thousand people were depending on.

The third bar went down, and with it, came the same roar that had started the battle. The boss threw his bone axe at the nearest group of players, who scattered under the attack. In place of his axe, he withdrew a talwar.

"Switching weapons?" Some behind her gasped, as the raid scrambled for order within the blue barrier.

"They're running out of crystals." Another pointed out. Miharu knew they were referring to healing crystals/vials. They were the only source of regenerating health (or by its own, but that was out of combat and at a very slow pace). It was obvious a lot of players were empty, by the way their health was reaching red and they were doing nothing to stop that.

"This is bad." The teen sighed, rubbing her temples.

Her words rang truth went suddenly, the boss froze.

In.

Mid.

Air.

"What the hell?!" Someone yelled, watching in awe as the great red monster was suspended from in-attack motion, his snarl on his lips no longer moving, and the Sentinels no longer there. Confusedly, red leader approached and probed the boss with his sword, but he and everyone else flinched when static filled the air.

"What's going on?"

"Is this an attack? Should we take cover?"

Miharu could say, in all her years of gaming, the very next thing she witnessed would be the most jaw dropping moment in her history of gaming.

The boss's torso _unhinged._

It separated, a pair of legs running one direction, and the upper half of the boss snarling as he floated around in circles. He swung his weapons around in a flailing mass of limbs, some players being unlucky enough to get caught in his path.

"What's he doing?" Miharu mumbled, unable to bring her voice higher than a shocked whisper. Those beside her were rigid with surprise, not believing themselves that the boss had just severed himself in half.

Then, the voice of reason spoke out.

"Everyone!" Eyes snapped to Kirito, who was frantically pulling a dazed raid leader away from the boss, "It's glitching out! We can't attack it, find some cover! Quickly!"

The raid took action, sprinting to opposite sections and corners of the wall, leaving the boss to run around like a headless chicken in the middle. Its legs were charging around the blue fires, kicking and stomping like it was dancing. It was minutes after the panic withered and the mental confusion wore out that the boss (both halves) froze again.

This time, he disappeared altogether.

There was a pregnant silence, where the blue barrier disappeared, the flames dispersed, and the door at the end of the hallway opened. Blinking, Miharu found a white loot screen in front of her.

'Congratulations! You have dealt the final blow to [Illfang the Kobold Lord]! Here is your reward!'

Miharu jumped, cries of shock and surprise echoing from around her and in the boss room. Apparently, the same final blow loot screen was in front of everyone else.

"No way! How is this possible?!"

"It was glitching…maybe it miscalculated?"

"Look at all that loot!"

"Guys! Guys! Look at this sword!"

"I'm epic!"

Cheers erupted around Miharu, and given the circumstances, she would have frowned at the strangeness of it all. Instead, she found herself beaming the loot page, all the Col, experience, and final blow loot she received.

"Shouldn't we report this to the game masters, though?"

"Just send a message. They'll fix it later."

"Look at my cloak! Weee~!"

"We did it! We beat the first boss!" Red leader cheered, echoed by many others as they lead the way to the second floor like the demented parade they were. Miharu joined them; laughing at the fact that Kirito was in an embarrassing headlock from the raid leader.

"Everyone! My name is Gorou!" The man yelled, "Remember that when you're asked where you got all these awesome goods! Tell them 'Gorou led us to victory!'!" Despite how self-centered that sounded, everyone laughed in agreement.

Deciding to ignore the cheerful march towards the second floor, Miharu opened her inventory, scanning through to find any items she received. Only one had been gained, and her eyes gazed over it enthusiastically.

[Chill Fang]

Pressing equip, Miharu found the dingy starting sword replaced with a blue dagger. The hilt was black, two sapphires engraved at the ends. The blade itself was a royal blue at the edges, a light blue in the middle, and almost white down the center. The Stats were good, much better than her old weapon, but something at the bottom caught her eye.

[Chance to slow target when hit.]

The teen grinned, sheathing her new weapon and marching alongside her fellow raiders. In the back of her mind, she had to wonder if Hikari was having as much fun as she was. If only she knew said brunette was lounging about an inn, moaning over her loss of gaming, she would have been a little bit happier.

For now, passing the gates to floor two, was more important.


	7. Chapter 7

DISCLAIMER: I do not own SAO

* * *

CHAPTER 7: Celebrities with Fishing Poles

* * *

Miharu knew she shouldn't have picked up the phone.

"…-and THEN it glitches?! You lucky dog! We've dealt with glitches before and all, but that's huge! Did you get in trouble?" The eager voice on the other line practically shouted into her ear. Miharu wanted to sigh. She should have known Hikari would do this.

"The game masters let it slide, but they've fixed it for the real game."

"Ah, man. So how's the second floor?"

"In a word? Plain. Everything is mostly flat, even the mountains. Not much different from the first floor, other than new monsters."

If possible, her cousin got more excited, "New? How so?"

"Well…it's more like Ox type monsters; ya know, ones on two legs, huge bulls, the whole nine yards."

"Ah, from beasts to humanized beasts," Miharu could almost see her cousin nodding to herself, "But that's not important. Did you get any loot off the boss?"

Oh boy, here we go…

"I got a dagger. It does cold damage."

A squeal, "That's so cool. When's the second floor boss supposed to die?"

Miharu snorted, "Tomorrow. Hey, aren't you supposed to be training or something? The tournament starts in a few days."

"What?" Hikari whined, "I can't call my dear cousin after a week? You wound me Haru-chan."

"You call for your own selfish reasons." The blonde rebuked dryly. A laugh pulled her attention to her a grandmother on the porch, giving her a knowing look. Miharu rolled her eyes and continued to hang laundry.

"Why did you go? I would have thought that you'd be all over this."

"Well…" With great reluctance, Hikari sighed, "Blame Obaa-san, she's been giving us so many lectures on 'preparing for our future' that I thought 'why not'?"

Miharu paused, "Oh wow, she really got to you huh? And here I thought you were made of stone."

Her cousin growled, "Yeah, yeah. I just wanted something career wise…even though gaming is fun and all, and I would love to play it for the rest of my life…it's just, what do we do when we can't?"

Miahru smiled. That was Hikari. She always liked to make a big deal of things, "We're only thirteen, Hikari. And doing Karate for a hobby doesn't change anything. You can be a game master AND a karate master."

A pregnant silence before an awed voice came through the phone, "That sounds so epic."

"Sure it does." The blonde stopped in mid action, a white cloth hanging from a clothesline swaying in the breeze, "Truthfully, I'm kinda jealous…"

"Of what? Me?"

"…Yea…"

Hikari laughed, startling Miharu, "Oh that's rich. If you want a hobby so badly, aim for it. You're good at cooking and making sweets, so why not join the culinary club? Be a master chef AND a master gamer."

Miharu couldn't help but laugh, "Ya, that does sound epic."

"And you can make food for me!"

"In your dreams!"

Miharu ended up not joining the culinary club for the obvious reason- Sword Art Online. Two others would be maintaining the inn, and the other would be home cooking. She already had a large surplus of ingredients in the kitchen, plus she got to serve actual customers. What she did do, however, was start looking up more exotic and unique recipes to make.

This eventually led to her grand discovery of the Skill cooking.

She went ballistic.

"Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh! I can make so many things!" She scrolled eagerly through her menu, reading the minimal recipes she already had. There was only two- Spice Bread and Apple Pie. The obvious ingredients were apples and the stale one col worth bread from the bakeries, but then she'd need flour, spices, a fire, and utensils. Such things were sold by the NPC baker, who was giving her a bewildered stare.

She wasted no time emptying his inventory and her wallet.

Skill's, she soon discovered, were out of one thousand. It took time to level one up, so baking one item wasn't automatically going to get her a level. It became frustrating when she only gained 12 levels after making fifty or so of each product. But by then, she noticed she had a new recipe.

"Smoked Yellowfin Salmon?" She read it over, raising an eyebrow at the needed ingredient Yellowfin Salmon. "But that's a fish…"

Much to Miharu's annoyance, fishing was another Skill to learn and level up. But that required a fishing pole and a spot of 'fishable' water. Finding the water was one thing, finding the fishing pole was a whole other ball game.

It was after she had searched the two floors almost three times, and then the newly reached third floor, that she met Argo.

"You look lost."

Miharu jumped, accidently canceling her menu. Whipping around, she came face to face with a mousy looking girl. She was wearing a grey cloak, with brown eyes and hair sticking out underneath. She looked unarmed, nothing abnormal, until Miharu caught sight of something _truly _eye opening.

"Are you a Naruto fan?"

The question threw the smaller girl off, who only went to Miharu's shoulder in height, and she glared, "Wha- these whiskers are not the mark of an Otaku!"

True to her word, three brown little whisker marks adorned the girls cheeks. It looked cute, but Miharu couldn't recall anything about customizing your character like that.

The girl crossed her arms, "You've been walking around the town portal for the last ten minutes muttering. Are you lost?"

Miharu blinked, glancing back at the teleport gate for the city they were in, [Citen] (the main town for the third floor). She gave a sheepish smile and the girl sighed.

"Whatchya lookin for?"

"This is going to sound really bad…but I can't find a vendor with a fishing pole." Miharu cringed as the girl stared at her dryly. Sighing, the whiskered girl opened her menu before opening her inventory.

"I'd tell you where to go, but you look like the type to get easily lost." The teen felt like protesting but it died in her mouth when a fishing pole- looking more like a stick with string attached to it- appeared in the girls hands.

"I'll trade. This for one thousand Col."

Miharu didn't wait to extract a bag of money from her inventory, "It's yours. Thanks so much."

The girl waved her hand dismissively as the two traded, "Don't be getting any funny ideas. I'm a broker, not a salesperson."

"You mean an information broker? Already?" Miharu had heard of them countless times before in other games. They were the 'go to' if you were helpless. Of course, it wasn't without a fee.

The girl shrugged, "Just getting data. If you played Hyperion, you might know of me."

"What's your pen name?"

"Argo the Rat."

It was so ironic, Miharu snorted, gaining a glare from Argo, "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. What's your pen name?"

"Sora." There was a pause, "Oh, you want my Hyperion pen name? It's the same, but with 'Sliver' added."

Argo paled, her eyes widening, "Sora the Sliver? You wouldn't happen…to know-"

"That moron that beat the game by crashing her ship into the boss?" Miharu quoted, and Argo nodded, "Yeah, that would be my dope of a cousin."

Argo smirked, "I always thought Hyperion was a strange game for Argus, being all sci-fi with spaceships and whatnot. I thought the idea of buying your own ship and battling with it was a little bogus unless you like PKing."

"Yeah…" Miharu scratched the back of her head, "Only my cousin could find something like that useful."

"If you don't mind…" Argo began, "Could I ask you a few questions about that?"

Glancing at the time on her menu, Miharu nodded to the girl, deeming there to be enough time before curfew for a few questions. Argo had a grin that clearly said 'profit!'. Much to Miharu's dismay, instead of getting off in half an hour like she planned to, the interrogation took more than a few hours. In that time, she learned a bit about Argo- turns out she's only a year younger than her- and a lot about SAO in exchange for the adventures of her and Hikari.

A lot of gamers still don't know what happened to beat Hyperion, due to lack of info. Argo was practically radiating rainbows when the questioning was over with. Miharu sighed as she stood up from the fountain the two sat at, having moved back to the first floor for some privacy, "It's late. My grandma's going to skin me alive."

Argo either didn't listen, or was to giddy, "Wow…if I post this information, my site will be legendary!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Miharu waved a dismissive hand, "It's my cousin you wanna interrogate. She's the one that got the bright idea to beat the boss at the cost of her own life. No loot, not experience. All she brags about is being the _only _one to beat the boss."

"It's genius," Argo muttered, looking down at the book and pen she had in hand to record notes, "Kill the boss and be the only one with the title 'legendary'."

"Please don't agree with her logic," Miharu groaned, bringing a hand to her face, "it'll only encourage her to harass more games."

Argo shrugged before standing, "Well, I suppose this was a productive evening. I sold my fishing pole to Sora the Sliver…" She paused before smirking, "None of the guys are gonna believe this."

Miharu frowned, but shook it off. It wasn't like she cared if her identity was being revealed, because she knew the moment Hikari entered the game it was all over. Waving that away for later and when the game actually comes out, she turned to Argo, only to find the girl walking away.

"Hey, wait!"

Argo turned halfway, blinking as a friend request popped up in front of her. Miharu smiled, "Just in case I need some help."

Argo snorted but none the less accepted it, "Knowing your background, we probably won't be seeing each other for a long time. And when we do, _I'll _be the one asking for help."

Miharu laughed and waved as they both parted ways.

Now to confront an angry old lady…


	8. Chapter 8

DISCLAIMER: We do not own SAO

* * *

CHAPTER 8: Last Hope

* * *

The days went by slowly. Well, at first, that is.

First, fishing occupied much of Miharu's time. She and Hikari never got out much back at the inn and being able to be outdoors and cook, fish, and do _anything _made her giddy. She still kept up with the floor clearings, sometimes participating in the boss events. She even waved hello to Kirito and Argo whenever she saw them walking through town.

Then the chaos came.

It was the day after the eighth floor was cleared and the implications that the day after tomorrow would be the end of beta tests had practically everyone scrambling for quests. Left and right everyone charged mobs and the Room of Resurrection was constantly full.

Miharu wasn't in the chaos.

She was _a part _of it.

"I swear," She grumbled crossly, "My cousin won't stop calling me. She wants _me _to make the raid group because no one else is. Everyone's to busy becoming the best there is."

The girl next to her, one of the party Miharu had joined to help them clear out a mini dungeon, frowned thoughtfully, "It's true though. We're never going to clear this floor if everyone's too self-centered here."

"It's not just that," Miharu mused, "Pking has suddenly become really popular, even if it is disapproved of by other gamers. I witnessed two parties going at it the other day. I almost got in the cross fire of it, too."

The girl nodded, "Player versus player is really popular among Argus games. It must be a shock to a lot that this isn't one of them. That or they hope to rewrite the rules."

Miharu shrugged, "It doesn't really matter if you think about it. It'll just be a bunch of whiners and jerks. It's not like it's going to kill anyone, anyway."

Even though the girl nodded, Miharu had a strange gut feeling that what she just said was a complete lie.

As the next day came and went, it became apparent the claims of the eighth being the final floor was true. It disheartened Miharu; she really had hoped they'd at least get to the tenth floor. Although she was disappointed, she remained optimistic in devoting the last day of SAO time to doing the things she likes best.

Camping.

Diverting away from the chaos of the wave of gamers mercilessly attacking mobs (because what good what its do when it'd be reset at midnight?), she decided to enjoy comforts she know she won't have back at home. Which involves a simple campfire next to a lake and piles and piles of fish.

"They lose durability after a while and disappear, but…" She stared blankly as they writhed around, some actually managing to get back into the lake, "I feel both triumphant and guilty."

Sighing, she poked her fire as the item in the pot hanging over it was cooking. She's gotten her cooking skill up to 30 only to find the new item also requires fish and a bit of foraging. It required berries and more apples.

It was when the meal was finally ready to be taken off the fire when she heard movement in the bushes. She tensed. There weren't a lot of mobs around here, especially with the water hole being a hot spot for players. She even waved to a few as they passed by. But it was going on eight o'clock now, usually when the weirdo's were the only one's out.

"_Player versus player is really popular among Argus games. It must be a shock to a lot that this isn't one of them. That or they hope to rewrite the rules."_

Miharu jumped in surprise at the memory.

Pker's…could it be?!

She turned sharply on the bushes, drawing her dagger and ready in case it really was an ambush. She wasn't sure what they could want, besides her fish, but she wasn't going down without a fight. She wasn't called Sora the Sliver for nothing.

When Argo came out thought, grinning, along with two much taller guys, Miharu visibly deflated. "I thought I was gonna get killed…" She muttered, dipping her head as the three approached her fire.

"Sorry to scare ya like that," Argo waved off dismissively, "Just thought I'd drop by."

"Hey, I guess…"

The two others made themselves known by wildly flailing their arms, "Wait, this is the Sliver?!"

Argo puffed up her chest, "Told ya I wasn't kidding."

"Oh wow!"

"This is like…epic!"

"Argo-san…" Miharu gave the girl a confused glance, "Who are these guys?"

"My information lackeys," she sniffed, "I can't be in more than one place, so I've gotta have interns to get the latest scoop. I'm still recruiting."

The guys seemed to take offense to 'lackey's, but were mostly ignored.

"Why're you here?"

"What? I can't stalk a celebrity?" She smirked when Miharu frowned, "I'd be ready to be ambushed when the actually game comes out. Especially that cousin of yours."

"More she then I, and she actually _enjoys _the attention."

"Well anyway," Argo turned her head towards the lake, suddenly serious, "I'm actually here for another reason."

"Hm?"

"The raid boss. Tonight." She turned to Miharu, "There's a raid group forming, pulling together the small batch that still want to progress. Even though we only have till midnight that leaves us with four hours to clear the boss."

"Good luck then."

"They don't have a leader."

Miharu blinked before realization crept in, "Wait…you want _me _to be leader?"

"You're the only one I know so far that can do it. Besides," Argo shrugged nonchalantly, "It's not like the entire world is on the edge of their seat in anticipation."

Miharu groaned, earning a chuckle from Argo, "No pressure."

Reluctantly, Miharu went with Argo to the meeting area of the raid, her so called lackeys trailing behind not-so-quietly fangirling over Sora the Sliver. The town wasn't that far away and already Miharu was surprised by the large quantity of people gathered.

"Don't get your hopes up," Argo murmured beside her as some began to notice their arrival through the crowd, "There's roughly thirty five here."

Miharu paled. She was a little nervous being in front of so many people with five less than what the raid requires; she knew this would keel over. To think she would be leading this to only made her mourn the loss of her epic title. And her life.

Because no doubt Hikari will end it if she fails.

"EVERYBODY, LISTEN UP!" She yelled, slightly panicked by the thought as she climbed up the steps to the town portal, "We've got less than four hours to clear this boss and that means no fooling around on any means, got it?"

Assertiveness usually came out when Hikari threatened her. That and her serious side to gaming came out during raids. It was kind of like an instinct reaction. The crowd silenced, looking up at her patiently. She steeled herself to continue.

"We've got to get to the dungeon ASAP, Argo will debrief you all-"

"-Not free-"

"-on the boss. Group up now with those near you. I'd like it better if support were in separate groups from tanks. Ready? Then let's go!" A flurry of movement greeted her proclamation. Everyone scrambled for a group and Argo came along, though not going to participate in the fight, to share boss info. Her lackey's followed (even though they pretended to be Sora's bodyguards, no one was buying it).

Miharu walked at the front of the group, outwardly looking as nonchalant as ever, yet inwardly reeling with all this pressure. If she fails…

_No! _She shook her head, _not gonna happen. I'm going to do this, even if it kills me._

Which it most likely will.

Miharu swallowed thickly as the large doors to the dungeon appeared ahead, connected to the pillar leading up. She did her best and lead through the winding floors of the dungeon, making sure to keep the group centered and not scattered and attracting every monster around. It was a slow process, taking up half their time left to actually reach the boss room.

Miharu glanced at the weary players and wondered idly where Argo went to, but decided to just assume she'd ditched them at the entrance. Turning towards the raid group, she coughed loudly for attention.

"I'm not going to give any fancy speech about doing your best and stuff, because I'm not gonna lie, there's a fat chance of us failing here. But," She crossed her arms, "I can assure you we'll try our hardest, because we're not going down without a fight."

A collective cheer echoed around and Miharu was briefly reminded of Hyperion before the final boss. She had been the raid leader, but they had continuously died so many times that it was almost quits. Then Hikari pulled that stunt…

She shook her head before gesturing towards the boss room, "Slow and steady now. Let's make history."

They followed without question.


	9. Chapter 9

DISCLAIMER: We don't own SAO

* * *

CHAPTER 9: Unsaid Goodbye

* * *

Hikari had never been happier to see the old inn.

Her grandmother was there to greet her, a haggard and droopy eyed Miharu smiling weakly as she approached. Her grip on her duffle bag tightened at her cousin's look. It was almost too easy to read her sometimes and she knew _exactly _what happened.

"Yo, Obaa-san, Haru-chan!" She chirped, embracing both, "I'm home!"

"And just when I thought things would get sane around here…" Miharu mumbled, smirking at Hikari's slack jawed look. Their grandmother chuckled, herding the girls inside. After having tea and a lot of the long time guests congratulating Hikari on her wins, the cousins moved into their room to unpack her things.

As soon as the door closed, Hikari was in Miharu's face.

"Tell me what happened. I want a completely detailed report of what went down last night and leave _nothing _out."

Miharu blinked before sighing, sluggishly sitting on her bed and cradling the nerve gear helmet in her arms, "We lost."

Hikari huffed, blowing her bangs out of her face, "That's obvious. I want to know why."

"I was a bad leader."

"That's bull crap and you know it." Hikari growled and the blonde was mildly surprised she didn't curse, "What happened?"

Miharu exhaled, closing her eyes, "The boss was a scorpion. It used ground and poison attacks-," here Hikari winced, "And we only had thirty five people to kill it. We managed until the end…"

Her cousin leaned forward, "And?"

"We ran out of time." Miharu responded flatly, "Right before its final health bar dropped, it hit midnight and we were kicked out of the game. It's still undecided if the boss was beaten or not and there's a lot of controversy," She sighed, "I'm just glad no one's pointing fingers at me."

"They better not." Hikari grumbled, crossing her arms, "Or they'll here from me."

At Miharu's grimace, Hikari frowned, "What?"

"Well, uh…" She started to twiddle her thumbs, "I kind of…told an information broker that we played the game and…we are gonna play it…"

Hikari stared. Miharu gulped. The sound of birds chirping out the window was the only noise that filled the silence. Abruptly, Hikari laughed.

"Does that mean people are gonna start asking for my autograph? A signature from Ari the Legendary!" She snickered, putting her hands on her hips as her cousin rolled her eyes.

Miharu lips pulled up into a smile as she gazed at her cocky cousin. _No time to cry over mistakes, _she mused, _just look forward to the future._

"Hey, did you at least screenshot the dagger you got?"

"You can't do that in virtual games."

"…Damn it."

The months went by going back to the normalness that the inn once had with Hikari around (meaning more explosions then usual). The brunette was genuinely happy to be back, even without a trophy, she had a silver metal to hang proudly on her wall. Miharu had finally joined the culinary club, wanting to have the same amount of time on SAO as her cousin to even themselves up a bit.

As the final week approached, the cousins found themselves quizzing each other over what they already knew.

"So this Kirito guy," Hikari began, typing away furiously at the computer as Miharu lounged on her bed, "He's pretty badass."

"Language. And yes. He looked like he could take on the first boss by himself."

"Will you still be friends with him?"

"I don't see why not." The blonde stretched, "All friends lists are supposed to remain intact when the game resets."

There was a pause as the sound of an explosion rang through the speakers, Hikari grinning triumphantly. Miharu rolled her eyes before going back to skimming through magazines.

"Hikari?"

The brunette muttered a distracted 'yeah?". Miharu furrowed her eyebrows, "I think we should get Obaa-san a gift."

This got the girls attention, abruptly pausing her game and spinning in her chair to face the blonde, "Why do you say that?"

She shrugged, "I dunno. It just feels like we should…I mean, she's put up with our crap for a while now, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so…she's wanted that china set, right? Is that why you started reading these magazines?"

Miharu raised an eyebrow, "Why else would I be reading them?"

"Well…" Hikari gave an awkward shrug, "I was a little worried you were going all girly on me. But, we're cool."

Miharu rolled her eyes, "Sure. But, I don't think the tea set is enough."

"Then what is?"

"We should get her some jewelry."

"Really, Haru? Old lady wearing jewelry?"

"Shush you. I'm the fashion expert here."

"Whatever you say, Haru-sama."

Miharu snorted amusedly, briefly wondering _why _she wanted to get a gift for their grandmother so badly. She supposed it could be because the elder had taken care of them when their parents had not, but knew otherwise. It was just a certain feeling she got that she was going to miss her, a lot. A feeling she'd never see the old lady ever again.

She shrugged it off and went on to shove Hikari out of her chair, playing the game instead while her cousin sulked in a corner.

At the end of the week, the day before SAO launched, the china set they ordered arrived and the inn held a celebration for the innkeeper, who was thoroughly touched by the gift. Both girls received bone crunching hugs (Miharu enjoyed it a lot more then Hikari did) and, surprisingly, everyone else pitched in with gifts as well. Towards the end the cousins presented her with a dazzling silver necklace with a heart clasped onto it. If anyone saw the tear that the old women shed, they didn't comment. Games were played, the cousins constantly and excitedly dragging their grandmother around who looked like she could die happy.

"I'm not sure if you're doing this to get on my good side or because that game of yours comes out tomorrow." She mused, eyeing the two girls warily as they sheepishly laughed. A soft smile reached her lips, "In any case, thank you, for such a nice evening."

The followed morning was filled with chaos, mostly on the cousin's end. They scrambled to do their chores, waking up at the crack of dawn to get everything and anything done. The guests watched amusedly as they did, their grandmother deciding to sleep in majority of the day to relax from the excitement the night before. The rushing didn't stop till noon where the cousins abruptly abandoned whatever they were doing (Miharu leaving dirty dishes while Hikari left the vacuum in the hands of a confused customer) and sprinted to their room.

The next hour was filled with rewiring, tech checks, and technical fixes. Minutes before the launch, both lay in bed with their helmets on, whispering excitedly to each other.

"How is it? You gotta tell me!" Hikari pleaded, glancing at the glaring 12:57 on her monitor, "I wanna know!"

Miharu giggled, "You havta wait. You're gonna love it."

"Haru-chaaaaan." The brunette whined, "I can't wait three more minutes!"

"Two minutes," Miharu corrected and Hikari groaned.

"Time. Go. FASTER!"

"When we get in, we have to find each other. There's going to be this large courtyard and that's where everyone is going to spawn. It's probably going to be super crowded, because there's like, ten thousand people." Miharu explained, "There's a fountain though. Right in the middle. We'll meet up there, okay? I'll teach you the ropes."

"Pfft." Hikari rolled her eyes playfully, "Like I need your help. You probably died on your first kill."

Even though it was playful and sarcastic, Miharu winced with a nervous laugh, "R-right. Let's just do this together, okay?"

"Hey, Miharu?"

"Yeah?"

"Good idea with the necklace. Obaa-san loved it."

The blonde grinned, "You think so?"

"Yup! We should take her to one of those shrines, ya know? She likes that old stuff."

"Ha, okay Hikari. It's a plan."

Finally, the digital clock on their headsets turned to 1:00, both girls turning to each other with a grin.

"See you on the other side!"

And their world exploded into color.


	10. Chapter 10

DISCLAIMER: I do not own SAO

* * *

CHAPTER 10: Quirks

* * *

Hikari was in awe.

For one, she was taller. That itself made her the happiest girl alive in about two seconds flat (or in the time it took her to realize she was no longer in her thirteen year old body). She was also wearing armor, and not that dingy cosplay crap. She gave a gleeful squeal, savoring in the moment when all her fantasies came true.

She took in her surroundings, flabbergasted at the sight of everything. The large circle center yard was _filled _with people. Some were conversing, others shoving to get by, while some plowed by with yells and calls of familiar game talk. After getting a full view of the area and spotting the fountain Miharu had mentioned, Hikari joined the latter group in an all-out sprint stopping short just before the water.

In the reflection, she found herself awe struck. Her once brown hair was now a shocking white with glowing pink eyes and she looked around sixteen. She was never one to admire appearances, finding fashion to be more of Miharu's thing. But, _damn, _she looked awesome.

Someone tapped her shoulder. Jerking away from her fantasies, Hikari turned to find a girl around her avatar's age grinning at her. They were the same height with the same pink eyes, only her hair was black and waist length. Hikari raised an eyebrow.

"Can I help you?"

"Pink eyes." The girl giggled, "I'm surprised we're not twins."

Hikari blinked, a metaphorical light bulb dinging above her head as she connected the dots, "Haru-chan?"

"That's Sora to you."

Hikari grinned, gesturing widely to the area around, "I can't believe this! It's so huge and- Oh wow, do I hear music?"

"It's the floor theme. Medieval." Miharu smiled amusedly at her cousin's awe. Her avatars hair length was the same length as her real one, but the flip from brown to white was gonna take a while to get used to. She could only imagine how hard it'd be for Hikari, considering she had longer hair and it was black- not blonde. She did find it funny they got the same pink eyes.

"This is so cool!" Hikari squealed, "Let's go kill something!"

"Hold up!" Miharu grabbed her cousin's arm, ignoring her pouting, "We have to get quests. I still need to teach you the ropes, remember?"

Hikari groaned, "But, Haru-chaaaaaaan, learning is boring. It's so much easier just to jump head first into things."

Miharu exhaled through her nose, memories of Hyperion invading her mind, "Yes, Hikari, I know all too well.

"That's Ari to you."

She laughed, "I'm actually a little surprised you didn't make your character a guy."

"What?" Hikari blinked, "You can do that?"

"Yeah. Switch genders."

"WHAT!? THAT'S SO GROSS THAT'S-…ew. Just ew."

"C'mon, girly pants," Miharu shoved her cousin forward, "Time to meet Enda."

Hikari was still trying to comprehend the games character creation dynamics when they approached the old lady. Miharu was more excited about getting Hikari caught up and then shooting off to leave everyone in the dust. It's what they always did. That's how they got their titles.

"So, uh…" Hikari eyed the old lady sweeping her porch, "What the hell do I do? Poke it?'

"No, idiot." Her cousin pointed to the exclamation point over her head, "Talk to her. She'll give you your first quest."

Hikari remained skeptical, raising an eyebrow at the lady's robotic movements. Miharu knew social wasn't really a strength of Hikari's. She's the type you'd find in a corner playing her little hand held device. The lone wolf who'd rather slay the warlord of some evil cult then make friends.

"Go ahead." She gave her cousin a nudge forward, "Go talk to her."

Hikari steeled herself, walking forward determinedly. She stopped at the bottom step of the house, giving a loud stomp to announce her presence, "Hey, old lady!"

Miharu winced. Yup. No social strength what so ever.

Enda paused, lifting her broom up. Her eyes slowly slid over to Hikari, before a demonic glint appeared in them.

"HEATHEN!" She shrieked, causing both to jump in surprise, "Devil's spawn! Get off my property you demon!"

Miharu could only gawk as the lady threw her broom at Hikari, hitting her right in the head. Hikari jerked, wide eyed and panicked. The old women didn't stop there and proceeded to retrieve a bucket from behind her and chase Hikari halfway down the street. Everyone around was staring at the sight.

Slowly, Miharu put a hand to her face.

"I should have known that'd happen…"

Apparently, Enda wasn't the only one that was going to have a panic attack to Hikari's appearance. Every other quest giver and merchant seemed to treat her like she was some fungus. At first Miharu was worried this would only hurt her cousin's self-esteem, but every time they'd walk away, she'd be grinning like a fool.

"Don't be down about it, Sora-chan," Hikari patted her head, using her avatars name, "Since we're in a party I get every quest you pick up and you can just buy me stuff from the merchants. I'll give you the money for it too."

Miharu managed a weak smile, "You're too optimistic."

"Because I think this is some serious legacy," Her cousin replied, "I bet I've inherited this awesome power or unique skill that makes everyone tremble in fear of me."

"Yes. It's called an ego."

"Oy…"

They managed to get to an open field that was less populated then the rest. There was no way they could avoid other players, considering ten thousand had just logged in and were doing the same thing they were. Miharu utilized the time they took to find a spot to explain the basics of the menu.

"Okay." She glanced at Hikari who was eying the boar in front of them challengingly. She winced, hoping that the same thing that happened to her wouldn't happen to her cousin, "You remember what I taught you about sword skills, right?"

"Yup. Swing, swing, kill."

"No. Vertical, Horizontal, Slant."

"Right, right, so I just do this?"

"Yeah- wait STOP!"

Too late. Hikari was already rocketing towards the boar, her blade lighting up green. Miharu wanted to close her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. To her surprise, Hikari charged passed the boar, a red slice line appearing on its flank. She didn't stop there, wheeling around to deliver a Horizontal before it even had time to process her as an enemy.

Miharu gaped as it exploded into pixels. Hikari flashed a peace sign, "That was easy!"

Miharu coughed, looking away, "Yes, well, congratulations…so what'd you get?"

"Um…" She scratched the back of her head, reading through the loot screen, "Experience is all. Have you gotten any loot off these things?"

"Trash loot. I did get a tusk that sold nicely in town once."

"Oh…"

Miharu was about to suggest they move on since they still had dinner to prepare soon when she caught sight of Hiakri's sword. Her jaw dropped, "Ari," She used her avatar name, "Why is your sword like that?"

"Like what?" She lifted the weapon, "You mean all curved like?"

"Yeah. My swords not like that. Where'd you get it?"

"I started out with it. Why? Is it important?"

Miharu furrowed her eyebrows, "Yeah…instead of one handed swords your leveling up one handed curved swords."

"So, like, scimitars?"

"I'm not sure what the difference is, but okay."

"It's proof!" Hikari exclaimed, jabbing a finger in the air, "Proof of my legacy!"

"No, you're just an idiot." Miharu rebuked dryly.

Her cousin pouted. For the next few hours they mowed through mobs, tag teaming and working together effortlessly with years of practice on their sides. Miharu was a bit worried when they started to turn in quests that they'd react the same way to Hikari, but surprisingly, they seemed genuinely thankful. Although, a bit shocked, they gave Hikari her reward.

Miharu caught the smile her cousin had. It made her feel like this game was definitely worthwhile.

She couldn't believe she forgot about their fans.

"No way!" Someone exclaimed behind them. The cousins blinked, stopping in their walk to the city center. It was almost six and they'd have to make dinner soon, so they decided to log off at the fountain. Unfortunately, Argo had found them.

Miharu winced at the girl's excited grin, spotted her lackeys behind her with even larger smiles. Glancing at her confused cousin, she managed a sheepish smile, "This is the information broker I talked about."

"No way…" Argo repeated, wide eyed, "You're…you're…"

"Oh." Hikari grinned, "You must Argo. I'm Ari, nice to meet-"

"OH WOW!" The boys exclaimed, waving their hands in the air, "Ari the Legendary?!"

Hikari just stared, perplexed, while Miharu pinched the bridge of her nose. She knew this was coming yet she completely forgot about it. Her friends list was still active so she knew the minute Argo entered the game she must have tracked her down in hopes of finding her cousin.

Argo crossed her arms with a pleased grin, "Told ya. The Sliver and Legendary. In the flesh- well, uh, sort of."

"Argo-san," Miharu smiled, "I know you want to interrogate- I mean ask my cousin a few questions, but we havta log off for a while."

Argo pouted. The boys protested. Hikari just grinned, "Don't worry. Sora-chan cooks real fast, so we'll be back from dinner in no time."

Miharu felt her cheeks heat at the compliment, while Argo's mood did a 180. "Alright." She nodded, pulling out a piece of paper and pencil. Miharu mentally noted that that was available in the game, deciding to visit the general store to get some for Hikari poor memory. "There's an inn near the west field entrance. Here are the directions from the courtyard. I'll be waiting there when you get done, okay? Don't bail on me."

Hikari snickered, waving her off as Miharu grabbed the paper, "No way. I'm not that lame. Besides, I've never really talked to an information broker before. I kinda wanna know how it works."

"Not without a fee."

Miharu chuckled, pushing her away from the three (one, considering the two boys had fainted). Argo managed to send Hikari a friend request before they departed, Hikari beaming like no tomorrow. Miharu raised an eyebrow at her cousin.

"What's got you so happy?"

"Well," She rubbed the back of her head, "It's my first friend on my list besides you. I kinda like the idea of it growing, you know?"

"If it's like that," The approached the fountain, Miharu glancing at her cousin, "You can make a guild when we reach the third floor."

"What? Really?"

"Yeah. You wanna make one?"

Hikari fist pumped, "Hell yes! I'm always the best! Screw those other raiding guilds, I'm gonna be the best! YOU HEAR ME AINCRAD!? I'M THE BEST FLIPPING THING YOU'LL EVER SEE!"

Miharu blushed, gazing around frantically to find a lot players staring at them. She smacked her cousin's head, ignoring her whining.

"First of all, even if you get to be guild leader, know that _I'm _the real one. You're too irresponsible to be a leader." Miharu huffed. Hikari crossed her arms and pouted at her cousin.

"Fine, Sora-chan."

"Good. Now, we should probably-"

Everything went red.


	11. Chapter 11

DISCLAIMER: I do not own SAO

* * *

CHAPTER 11: Just a Game

* * *

Danger was everywhere.

Players were appearing left and right in beams of light. All of them were just as confused as the cousins were, staring up at the red sky. Little blocks of the sky each held the word 'Alert!' or 'Danger!" in them. Miharu was starting to get nervous.

"You don't think the game crashed?" She whispered to Hikari. Her cousin shook her head, gazing skeptically around.

"No. It's too…planned. Maybe an event?"

Miharu's eyebrows furrowed, "Why would an event change the sky like that?"

"Good point."

Everyone was startled when the sky started to leak red ooze, looking chillingly similar to blood and forming together in the sky. And then, a game master appeared.

"Oh." Miharu blinked, "Maybe the game did crash?"

"Or hacked. Or bugged. Or crashed. Anything can happen."

"Attention, players." The enormous robed figure spread his arms, a deep booming voice echoing around the small area, "Welcome to my world. My name is Kayaba Akihiko."

"Isn't he the guy that owns Argus?" Hikari mumbled. Miharu nodded.

"He made this game."

"As of this moment, I' am the sole person who can control this world. I'm sure you've already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu. But this is not a defect in the game."

Miharu jolted, snapped her head to the side when her cousin opened her menu. His words were true, for right below the options button, the logout was gone. "I repeat…this is not a defect in the game."

"So…an event?" Hikari raised an eyebrow, turning to her pale cousin. Miharu weakly shook her head.

Kayaba continued his speech, "It is a feature of Sword Art Online. You cannot log out of SAO yourselves. And no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain and thus ending your life."

Miharu gasped. Hikari gapped. Thousands of people voiced their shock and confusion, but Kayaba didn't seem to pay any heed. Hikari swallowed.

"He can't do that…can he?"

Slowly, Miharu nodded her head, "The NerveGear runs on battery…basically, he's saying there's a bomb on our head."

Hikari paled.

"Unfortunately, several players' friends and families have ignored this warning, and have attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever, from both Aincrad and the real world."

Hikari looked sick, echoing 'over two hundred…?' while Miharu's thoughts flew towards their grandmother, hoping with all her might that she wouldn't disconnect them. She hadn't done it before, but who's to say she wouldn't get mad when they didn't show up to dinner? Was she watching the news right now? What was going on out there?

"As you can see," The giant game master flicked his hand, screens appearing and rotating around him, "new organizations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths. Thus, you can assume that the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal."

That did nothing to ease the crowds panic.

"I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game. But I want you to remember this clearly. There is no longer any method to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost. And simultaneously, the NerveGear will destroy your brain."

Hikari was shaking now, staring wide eyed at the leviathan before the crowd. Thoughts were rushing through Miharu's head, thoughts of her deaths before she started the game and how easy it was then but _now _if she screwed up even once, even if it was small, she was gonna die. Both of them could _die._

"There is only one means to escape." A holographic image of Aincrad appeared in front of the game master, "To complete the game. You are presently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, Floor 1. If you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the final boss on Floor 100, and you will clear the game."

A determined glint entered Hikari's eye. Miharu was too busy trying not to hyperventilate. The level of silence around them was graveyard worthy.

"Finally, I've added a present from me to your item storage. Please see for yourself."

Hikari opened her menu, snapping Miharu out of her daze for her to robotically copy her cousin's movement. She was a little surprised to find an item there, considering they'd already sold everything. She brought it out of her inventory, a small hand mirror forming in her palm.

Miharu raised an eyebrow, "How is this-?"

And then, there was a flash of light. Dizzily, she noticed everyone's shape seemed to have changed. And they got taller. Looking down, Miharu yelped, finding her back in her thirteen year old body. Shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes. Turning to her cousin, she found the brunette staring wide eyed back at her.

"H-Haru-chan?"

"Um…" the blonde took a deep breath, "This…why? What's going on?"

"I'm not sure but…" Hikari turned back to the game master, glaring, "He's really starting to piss me off."

"Right now," Kayaba spoke up, "you're probably wondering, 'why?' Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do all this? My goal has already been achieved. I created Sword Art Online for one reason…to create this world and intervene in it. And now, it is complete."

Shocked silence.

"This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. Good luck, players."

And then he disappeared.

It was so eerily quiet, Miharu thought for a moment that someone had put everyone on mute. Then an anguished wail went up, and all hell broke loose. People ran screaming, someone falling to the ground in tears, and everything was chaos.

Hikari grabbed her cousin's hand, forcefully pushing their way through the crowds and away from the courtyard. The NPC's looked like no such death threat had been issued over their head, staring at the mass of panicked players in confusion. The cousin's ran through the streets before Miharu tugged on her arm, forcing them to a stop.

Hikari wheeled on her cousin, "What do we do now? He said we have to beat the game to survive…"

"I know," Miharu pinched the bridge of her nose, shakily sighing, "I'm not sure if he's bluffing but I don't really want to find out."

"Right. So, plan of action?"

"Plan…?" Miharu turned towards the direction they were going, eyes lighting up in thought, "This road leads out to Harunka, the first village…we could beat the mobs but…"

"Alright then, let's go!"

"WAIT!"

Hiakri froze; foot in the air, snapping her head to her cousin, "What?"

"Are you sure?" Miharu gestured to the road, "We could die, Hikari. We're just kids."

Hikari smirked, "That's never stopped us before, am I right? We didn't get our titles for nothing."

Miharu couldn't help the smile that crossed her face.

"I bet I'll beat you there."

"Fat chance!"

"Better keep up, lazy!"

"OY!"

_Yeah, _Miharu thought as they raced down the road with the sun setting behind them, _so what if this is a death game? It's still just a game._

One they definitely plan to beat.


	12. Chapter 12

DISCLAIMER: I do not own SAO

* * *

CHAPTER 12: Skills to pay the Bills

* * *

The first week of the death game was hell.

Miharu wasn't sure how the other players were doing, considering the two of them had plowed through quests and mobs all the way to the last village on the floor. Hardly any players were around there, only beta testers like her and those who wanted to survive. Most were still recovering in the [Starting City]. But that didn't stop the cousins from going beyond what's expected.

This was a death game. Miharu had already played the game to floor eight (or nine, it's still unknown), so a lot of the facts still rolled around her head.

Hikari picked up things quickly, getting both of them to level five. They'd already found the first floor dungeon, but weren't attempting to enter anytime soon. Hikari was a bit put off, wanting to charge in like always, until Miharu reminded her that she'd gone in with a group. Taking it on solo would be dangerous. They'd just have to wait for a good group to come along and just sharpen their skills in the meantime.

"Sora-chaaaaaan," Hikari whimpered, leaning against the doorway to the store. Her cousin ignored, staring at the assortment of recipes and spiced on the counter, "Why do you want to pick up cooking _again?"_

"Because," She proceeded to trade money for the items, turning to her cousin with a satisfied smile, "The food tastes great. It also gives stat buffs."

Hikari groaned, "You and your buffs."

"Why don't _you _pick up something? It's gonna be awhile before anyone gets to us."

"Oh _c'mon," _Hikari sunk to the floor, "It took beta testers a week and we're the only ones in this _town."_

Miharu huffed, "Ari, face it. When it comes to situations like these, we've played way too many scary and shooting games to be affected. Everyone else is still in shock. It'll be awhile before we start seeing other players around here."

"I know, I know…" The brunette crossed her arms as they exited the shop, "I wonder where everyone is…"

"You mean Argo-san?" The blonde paused thoughtfully, "I hope she's okay. I haven't seen her since the death game started."

"Yeah, what about this Kirito person? Is he around?"

"I haven't checked," Miharu admitted, opening her friend list. Her eyes widened dramatically though, piquing her cousins interest.

"What? Does it show where he is?"

"Y-Yeah…he's in the same town we are."

"Really?" Hikari blinked, gazing around the empty street, "He must be a ninja."

"Let's not bother him." Miharu shook her head, canceling her menu. She remembered how anti-social he was and with things as they were, sometimes people just needed to be left alone.

Hikari shrugged, not really bothered as she retrieved a stale bread from her inventory to munch on. Miharu grimaced, "That's also another reason I want to cook. You sound like you're eating cement."

"Hey, it does its job."

"DEMON!" A merchant that had wandered to close squealed, scurrying back down the street. Miharu watched them got dryly, turning an accusing glare to her all too smug cousin. Hikari raised an eyebrow, crumbs falling from her mouth, "Wut?"

"You're enjoying this way too much. We're in a _death _game."

"So?" She brushed off her armor, "As long as you run when you go red, you'll be fine."

Miharu rolled her eyes, glancing down at her own armor. For the most part, they had the same color gear, but some equipment was a different color, contributing to mob drops. They hadn't encountered a field boss yet, much to Hikari's disappointment. The brunette's armor was forest green leather, making her resemble an elf in some ways. Miharu's was also leather, being a similar green but with grey mixed in.

"It's still so early." Hikari moaned, glaring up at the sun, "Why can't time go faster?"

"Don't say that. We have to use every bit of time to level up, increase our skills, and get better gear. Besides, I still need to find a fishing pole…"

"That's so boring," Hikari whined, "What about me?"

Miharu shrugged, "Well, what _do _you want to do? There's blacksmithing, tailoring, musical instrument, sewing, medicine-"

"Hold out!" Hiakri crossed her arms in an X, "Let's do this one at a time."

Miharu exhaled, lips twitched amusedly, "Alright. How does sewing-"

"Sora."

"Alright, alright," Miharu waved dismissively, ignoring Hikari's glare, "Well, there's weapon forging, appraisal, familiars-"

"Oh wait, we can have pets?" Hikari looked astonished, "Like…pets?!"

"No way, Ari." Miharu shook her head, "No chances are you going to bring a long some demented creature. No. Way.

Hikari grumbled, stomping her foot childishly, "Sora-chaaaaaaaaan!"

"No."

"Fine. What else is there?"

"Well," Miharu opened her menu, scrolling to the skills page, "There are passive skills like tracking, acrobatics, hiding, sprint, night vision-"

"No. Way. Night Vision!?"

Miharu sighed, "Ari, its daytime."

"…damn it."

"Then there's combat skills," The blonde continued, "We're wearing leather equipment at the moment, since we've never really been tanks…and armor doesn't sound that good when we're not gonna be the ones getting hit."

Hikari peeked over her cousin's shoulder, staring intently at her screen, "Battle Healing, Emergency Recovery, and Meditation…a lot of healing abilities for a game that doesn't have magic."

Miharu hummed in agreement, "We'll just bring a crap ton of potions. Makes it easier and frees up more space for skills."

"Well," Hikari huffed, "While you go and cook, I'm gonna be doing cool stuff like acrobatics and sprint."

"We're not gonna split up." Miharu shook her head, "It's too dangerous. We'll just have to split up time doing what we need."

Hikari groaned but none the less complied, helping her cousin carry around items for her skill. Miharu had to explain to her you could only have twelve skills at a time out of the thousand possible. It was when Hikari was browsing through them on her own menu that something caught Miharu's eye.

"Hikari, what's that extra box?"

"Hmm?" The brunette turned towards it, furrowing her eyebrows. It was to the side of her skill screen, highlighted in gold, "I don't know. Do you have it?"

"No. What is it?"

Hikari shrugged, pressing a finger to it. A small data bubble popped open, with the words 'Darkness Blade' highlighted in bold. Beneath it, a vague description went on to explain its properties. Hikari turned to her cousin in confusion.

"Does this mean anything to you?"

"Huh. It does look strange. Maybe you're bugged?"

Hikari moaned in despair, "I hope I don't start glitching. I don't wanna lose my torso."

"It says, 'the blade draws upon dark energies to give strength to the wielder, but in turn, gradually takes their life away'." Miharu read, before biting her lip, "That certainly sounds alarming."

"Um. What is it?"

"My best bet is- you've got yourself a unique skill."

Hikari blinked, glancing at the skill, randomly her feet, then at Miharu, "That's cool and all but…what was that about taking my life?"

Miharu shrugged, "Best bet now is to just ignore it until we get better experience."

"Darn. I _knew _I had a legacy."

"Shut up, idiot, and help me make a fire."

"Sora-chaaaaaan, you're so mean!"

Miharu rolled her eyes, dragging her complaining cousin to the outskirts of town where they still remained in the safety of it, but had free roam. As she started to set up her utensils, she noticed Hikari making herself comfortable on the grass.

"What are you doing?"

"Well," Hikari grumbled, sitting up straight, "you said to practice my own skills, so I' am."

Miharu watched as she closed her eyes. There was a long pause before Hikari whimpered, "I hate Meditation. Make it go faster."

Miharu rolled her eyes, "You're not one for patience. Just work on Hiding or Listening."

"I don't wanna listen to you, so I guess I better hide." Hikari cackled, smiling mischievously at her irked companion. The brunette stood as Miharu created a fire, stretching her arms in the air.

"Hey, when are we gonna buy our own house or actually sleep in an inn? Not that I don't like the stars, but when more players come along, I'm not gonna feel so safe."

Miharu hummed, "I guess we could rent out a room in the inn today. Just before the mob comes."

Hikari abruptly threw herself onto the ground, rolling down the hill with gleeful giggles. Miharu watched her go dully, listening to her laughter echo off the hillside, "That's not hiding if I can hear you!"

"I still got a skill point!"

Miharu smirked, turning back to her own skill. She planned on picking up fishing and cooking again, but she wanted to add blacksmithing to that list. Of course the whole blacksmithing package included a bunch of skills she'd have to take, but she settled for the necessities. For one, they weren't gonna need heavy armor anytime soon, so that was crossed off the list. Getting materials wasn't a problem either. Hikari _loved _killing mobs. All she had to do was follow her trail of wreckage and she was bound to get everything she'd need.

Thinking about it, all they needed from smithing was weapons. She'd have to pick up sewing and tailoring to make leather armor for them. But cooking was her priority now.

Hikari's? She watched her cousin roll up and down the hill blankly. So far, Hiding and just plain being obnoxious. However…

"Hey, Ari!"

"Yeah?" Hikari's head popped up from down the hill like a jack in the box. Miharu found herself smirking.

"How does Tracking sound to you?"

"What's it do?" the brunette asked, approaching the small fire she'd made. Miharu stoked it as she started to explain.

"Well, you can hunt certain mobs, NPCS, and players. You'll even be able to find other monsters that are Hiding, or players…" She trailed off, frowning as she started to notice how this skill seemed more for PK. Just the thought of it left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Hikari hummed, "Hiding…Tracking…actually, I think I'm gonna stick with Hiding, Sprint, and Acrobatics."

"Okay, so, rolling around in the grass apparently levels hiding. You can just jog around if you wanna level sprint. What about acrobatics?"

Hikari shrugged, "I think I'll just practice karate."

"Okay then. We set?"

"Yup! Oh boy, now I'm getting pumped! Those other beta testers better come quickly, I can't _wait _to take out the boss!"

"Ari, you do realize that majority of the groups are still in Harunka, right?"

Hikari gapped at her cousin before collapsing into a cloud of depression, "If they don't get here by the end of the week, we're going to kick their sorry asses up here, got it?"

Miharu rolled her eyes, a fond smile on her face, "Whatever you say, Ari."

It was around that time, a message appeared in front of Miharu. The blonde blinked, startled, while Hikari jolted at the bell like chime it gave, "What the hell?!"

"It's from Agro-san," Miharu opened it, frowning; "She wants to meet up. She says…"

Hikari blinked when she noticed her cousin going pale, "What? What is it?"

Miharu swallowed, barely managed to utter her next words, "…she says that everyone's scapegoating the beta testers…"

Hikari was perplexed, "That's stupid. Isn't there a guide book, so technically, everyone is a beta tester?"

Miharu sighed, shakily, "This is just great. How are we gonna complete the game when everyone's at each other throats?"

"Well, at least we're not killing each other."

There was a pause in which both cousins turned pale, images of PKers finding them running through their heads. In their moment, they didn't notice the shadowed figure approaching. Not until they were practically right beside them.

"Hey."

They screamed.


	13. Chapter 13

DISCLAIMER: I do not own SAO

* * *

CHAPTER 13: Of Swords and Teleport's

* * *

Kirito got all along with the cousin's well.

He was just a year older than them, shy and independent, but his _gear. _He wore something similar to the starting gear, but it was all from the dungeon. Miharu was surprised he went in there alone, since they had barely made it through the first few floors just out of curiosity. He had approached them, finding the smoke of their fire and wanting to see if it was a possible field boss. He looked just as surprised to see them as they were.

They got around to chatting, mostly about how different their appearance were, until Miharu felt it upon herself to tell Kirito of the beta tester issue.

"Blaming us?" Kirito echoed, a piece of Miharu's apple pie in hand. It was lunch and the girls had decided to share their meal with him, sitting around the fire. The blonde nodded.

"That's what Argo-san tells me, and I trust her information one-hundred percent."

Kirito paused thoughtfully before taking another bite of pie, "It's taking so long for them to get up here. Pointing fingers at each other is only going to make it worse."

Hikari sighed, poking her food with a frown, "We thought about going back and helping them, but since we got the message, we figured it's safer here."

Kirito nodded, his black eyes staring thoughtfully into the fire. A silence engulf the group before Hikari groaned, throwing herself back onto the grass and staring up at the blue sky.

"Someone needs to give them a boost, or at least knock some sense into them. _I _would do it, but I don't wanna leave Sora-chan alone."

"I see," The dark haired boy frowned before stretching, "That was a nice meal. Thank you, Sora."

Miharu smiled, "No problem, Kirito-san. If you ever need someone to talk to, we're here."

"We're the _only _ones here."

"Shush you."

Kirito smiled and bid farewell to them, Hikari adding him to her friend's list just before he left. They waved as he disappeared back into town. The cousin's sat in silence for a while, watching the spot he disappeared before Hikari snickered.

"I like him. He's cool."

"Don't you go and bother him," The blonde shoved her face away, ignoring her pout, "He's a solo player for a reason."

"Miharu…"

She paused at her full name, turning to her cousin. The brunette was still sprawling out in the grass, a thoughtful frown on her face.

"Yeah, Hikari?"

"Do you think if we get strong enough that we could face the boss on our own?"

Miharu stared before snorting, "If you could get us to level fifty overnight and have a good dodge strategy in mind, we'd have a very slim chance."

Hikari laughed, sitting up and beaming at her cousin, "Then we should start now, ne?"

Miharu grinned.

The next week was filled with skill training and mindless monster killing. Hikari had yet to touch her unique skill, though you could tell the brunette anxiously wanted to. Miharu wouldn't allow it, at least not yet, until they figured out what it did. In the meantime, they scouted through the floor dungeon, getting the farthest of ten levels before having to retreat for more heal potions.

It was when they finally reached the eleventh that they encountered their first escort quest.

The cousins were practically glued to one another's side, tensely watching for any ambushes or traps as they ascended through the dungeon. The dungeon itself felt like a cavern with unstable ledges and passageways. However, the cousin's managed well enough together to get far.

What they weren't expecting was to find a little girl.

She stood in the middle of an intersection, staring at the ground and shuffling her feet. When the two approached, she perked up, a smile creeping up on her face.

"Oh!" She ran forward, ignoring Hikari completely and launching herself into Miharu's arms. The blonde jumped back, startled. "Help! I've been in here for hours and no one's come to save me! I…I want my mommy!"

Miharu awkwardly patted the NPC's back, turning to her cousin as a window pulled up in front of them, "It's a quest."

"Escort Rein back to Tolbana…" Hikari read, trailing off, "Shouldn't be too difficult. All we have to do is walk back before everything spawns."

"What are the rewards?"

"Doesn't say." Hikari pressed accept, Miharu mirrored her movement before Rein abruptly latched herself onto Miharu's back. The blonde blinked, startled.

"Um…?"

Rein sniffled, "My mommy's in Tolbana. She sent me to get some herbs for her medicine when I got lost."

"Yeah. You're pretty lost." Hikari mumbled as they started their decent.

"Rein-chan," Miharu smiled back at the girl warmly, "We'll get you to your mother. Don't worry."

The little girl sniffled again but said nothing. The lower they went in the dungeon, the more they spotted monsters reappearing. They subtly began to pick up their pace.

"That's not good…" Hikari abruptly stopped, staring ahead. Miharu paused as well, taking in the number of enemies ahead. One caught her eye. All of them seemed to be these strange looking Minotaur's, this one resembled more of a cow then a bull. She noticed it had an extra bar of heal as well. Hikari cursed, noticing it too.

"A field boss. Now of all times?"

"I can't fight." Miharu jerked her head back to the girl on her back, "My hands are kinda occupied at the moment."

Hikari grinned, cracking her knuckled and slowly taking out her curved sword, "Piece of cake."

Miharu sighed and watched as her cousin charged towards the group. Even if she had gotten Hiding up a bit, she hardly used it. She was more into acrobatics and a bit of sprint. Miharu herself has been leveling that up well with running around and collecting materials. She was surprised how much faster she could be then Hikari at times.

By the time Hikari was done, the brunette was grinning and dismissing her loot screen. Miharu had to use one hand to keep the girl on her back steady so she could use the other to cancel hers. However, the loot caught her eye.

"I got a sword off that."

"Huh?" Hikari sheathed her own, cocking her head, "A sword dropped? Is it better than yours?"

"I still have the starting sword, dummy, of course it's better." Clumsily, she equipped it, watching the one on her sheath disappear and be replaced with a thinner and longer sword. She unsheathed it, careful not to drop Rein. Hikari whistled.

"Damn, that's hot."

The sword was black, the hilt was white and had strange black leather wrapped around the handle. The blade itself was pure black, gleaming in the dull light of the cavern.

"Obsidian Edge." Miharu read the name, chuckling dryly, "I have just enough strength to hold it too. It's pretty good with speed, but doesn't do a lot of damage. It's still better than my old one though."

They started to walk again, Miharu sheathing her sword. Hikari casually threw her hands behind her head, humming in thought. "We're level six now. What are our stats again?"

"Strength. Agility. Special."

"Oh right." Hikari opened her menu, furrowing her eyebrows, "Right now, we have 11 Strength and 13 Agility. What's special do?"

"All it shows is the effects your equipment gives. Remember my dagger, how it had a chance to slow my attacker?"

"Yeah?"

"That's special. Basically, my special was cold damage. I could have more, like maybe my boots gave me increased attack speed. It'd show up under special with something like '30% increased attack speed'."

"Oh." Hikari gestured to her cousin's sword, "How much damage does that do?"

"Average. It required 10 strength. I'm glad we leveled a few floors down."

They finally found the exit not long after, Rein suddenly coming to life and giving a round of joyful laughter, "I'm so glad to be out of there! Thank you!"

Miharu giggled, "it's fine. Tolbana isn't far."

"Hey, Sora-chan." Hikari turned to walk backwards, her eyes still glued to her menu, "What smith stuff did you say you'd pick up?"

"Weapon forging. I'm gonna pick up sewing for our armor. Why?"

"Because I remember what you said about the second floor only having one village with quests in it." Hikari mumbled, "So I figured that'd give us the time we need to go get materials, right?"

Miharu blinked, "I guess so. Killing mobs is the only way to level up there."

"Then we can level up our crafting skills when we get there, okay?"

"_Our?" _Miharu echoed, the town of Tolbana entering their sights, "May I remind you I'm the one with the skills."

Hikari pouted, "Okay, okay. But I'm the one killing. I actually want to test out my unique skill while I'm at it."

"Are you sure that's wise?"

"Nope."

Miharu snorted, the conversation dying down as they entered town. To their surprise, they spotted some players wondering about. Usually the town was devoid of life, but the sign of approaching players gave the two hopes. Miharu let Rein hop down.

"Okay," She took the little girls hand, "Where is your mommy?"

Rein stared widely, looking around before she grinned, "Over there! That's where my mommy works!" She excitedly started to drag the blonde over to the building. Hikari snickered at her relative's misfortune, eyeing the sign on the door that read 'Baker Shop'.

They walked in, the little girl scrambling over to a middle aged woman mixing ingredients together at the counter. The women was startled to have the little girl leap up to her but then proceeded to smother her in hugs. Miharu frowned at the sight, her own thoughts going back to their grandmother. Hikari noticed the look before speaking up.

"We brought her back from the dungeon."

"Oh thank you." The women smiled, "I simply must repay you for bringing my little Rein back."

The woman went through a back door with her child in her arms, leaving the two to awkwardly survey their surroundings.

"I wonder what bakers sell…" Hikari mumbled. Miharu hummed in agreement before the lady returned, this time without Rein. Miharu sadly assumed the little girl had been reset, and she was back in the dungeon, but was surprised to see her scurrying out with her mother.

The woman smiled before extending two bags to them, "I hope these will aid you in your quest."

Hikari mutely rolled her eyes, having heard the same lines a billion times before. Miharu caught it and smirked. Carefully, they took the bags, bowing in farewell before taking their leave. Rein managed to fit in a farewell, waving excitedly and asking for them to return someday.

Hikari sighed contently as they started towards the inn, the day drawing to a close, "Even though she was a computer, you can't help but feel accomplished."

Miharu rolled her eyes with a fond smile, before lifting the bag in her hands up, "I wonder what's inside."

"Never gonna find out staring at it." Hikari untied the roped around the small bag, opening it up. She blinked at the contents, looking inside Miharu's to find the same thing.

"A baker…gave us crystals?"

"I don't think their crystals." Miharu mumbled, picking one up for examination. "I think their teleport crystals."

Hikari eyes went cross, "But-but I didn't think you could do that in this game."

"You can. You just havta say the name of the floor town and you can go there. The only place we can go now is [Starting City]."

"Aw." Hikari huffed, storing the bag in her inventory, "So they're useless until we can progress."

"Pretty much."

Hikari groaned as they entered the inn to retire for the night. Miharu made a mental note after checking her messages to get back to Argo. They hadn't heard from her in a while and she probably thought they were ignoring her. They also had to scout more of the dungeon, create some free time for skills and mob farming, and see if enough people are ready for the boss…

So much to do.


	14. Chapter 14

DISCLAIMER: I do not own SAO

* * *

CHAPTER 14: Follow the Looter

* * *

Miharu found the whole thing hilarious.

It'd been a week since their encounter with Kirito, slowly closing in on a month and they were still on the first floor. Hikari was at her wits end, deciding to take all her frustrations out on monsters. Miharu felt a bit manipulative for suing her cousin's frustrations in a way to gain mats, but really, when Hikari gets like this there was _definitely _going to be loot.

And as the blonde watched her cousin charge across the forest, gaining every monsters attention and slaughtering every one of them, she couldn't help but grin. Players had finally reached Tolbana a few days ago. Many of them were even in this forest, gawking at the furious teenager and the horde of monsters she continuously mowed through.

The forest wasn't even that thick. She could see through the trees well, but that didn't mean she had Listening or Tracking to find her cousin or at least where the destruction will be. Luckily, Hikari's bags had long overfilled when she began, leaving a trail of mats and loot. Miharu greedily picked each pile clean, glad she got the Extended Weight Limit skill. It was perfect for this.

And for her production skills. Seriously, she wouldn't be surprised if she got level one hundred with everything with the way things were going. She was just glad the other player's around her were too stunned to realize they could get the loot too.

"Hey!"

She was jolted out of her thoughts, picking up the last item from an obvious slaughter and turning to the voice. It belonged to an adult. He was tall, dark skinned, muscular, and bald with a small goatee. His armor was grey and a small mix of black.

"Do you know what all the commotion's about?"

"Oh." She turned, faintly hearing a battle cry followed by squealing, "My cousin's having a moment."

He raised an eyebrow and she sheepishly smiled, "She's killing mobs for our skills. I think she went a little…overboard…though."

Not that she was complaining.

The man gazed around for a moment, taking in the trail of goods. His lips tugged upwards in amusement, "Will she be fine?"

"Oh, yeah," She waved dismissively, continuing her scavenging, "She'll feel a lot better after she's done venting."

The man hummed before extending a hand, "The names Agil."

"Sora." She shook his hand, watching as hers practically disappeared into his. Agil ended up joining her on her little 'scavenge', revealing he too wanted to start smithing. Miharu didn't mind sharing the mats, knowing she'd have to share sooner or later and she couldn't hold all the drops.

"You seem a little young to be out this far." Agil commented as they continued down the trail of destruction, ignoring gawking stares and distant battle cries. "Most kids around your age are at the orphanage."

The mention of the name made Miharu cringe, memories of her parents- their absence- and without their grandmother…

"Ari wouldn't like it." She decided with, having already shared her cousin's name with the man, "And…we're gamers. We're not gonna sit by and let other's save us."

"You said you've been playing video games for how long?"

"Almost ten years."

He whistled, idly picking up what looked like a boar tusk off the ground, "This is one of my first games."

Miharu winced, "I'm sorry it had to end this way."

He smiled, "It's alright."

Miharu raised an eyebrow at this and he chuckled, crossing his arms, "The way I see it, even if we aren't physically doing what we are, our mind will remember the skills we've gained. For example, if I pick up sewing, it's something I've never tried before. I'll be able to do it when I get back."

The blonde blinked, "I guess I never saw it that way."

He nodded, continuing, "And then there's medicine, acrobatics, all the minor skills that seem like nothing but when you really think about it, it's sharpening you're knowledge as well."

"Wow." Miharu stared at him, awed, "I thought they were ways to help beat the game."

"Some do." He nodded, "But I don't think that's a healthy mindset for a game like this."

Miharu had to agree. If someone to get tossed into the death game and thought everything they do here will be useless but surviving, they're emotions could get all out of whack. Depression and anger management problems entered Miharu's mind, then she thought of her cousin before smirking. If anything, it was patience that was going to be the end of her.

Speaking of said girl, they'd apparently reached the end of the loot road. A large pile of trash sat in a clearing as if to congratulate their feat greeted them, and sitting on a rock next to it was her companion. Sulking.

"Ari." She approached the pile, hiding a smile behind her fist, "you're great you know that?"

All she got was a grumble. Agil was impressed as well, digging into the loot alongside with Miharu. During this, the blonde introduced the two.

"You're gonna be a blacksmith too?" Hikari asked, pulling out of her slump to peer curiously at him. He chuckled.

"I'm pretty far a long already." Agil exhaled, standing up straight. Miharu picked up the last item, stretching her arms high above her head. Hikari hummed, yawning.

"I'm more impressed you managed to take out so many of them without a break." Agil glanced around, taking note of the monsters that's spawned. There was quite a few. Hikari just shrugged before pouting.

"Sora-chan, I'm hungry. Do you have any more pie?"

"You can have some when we get back." The blonde ignored the grumble she got in return and turned to Agil, "It was nice meeting you, Agil-san, but I think it's time we headed back."

He nodded, glancing at the sun barely peaking above the trees, "Yeah, I'd say it's time to hit the sack."

Hikari blinked, "You sound…really American."

"That's because I' _am _American."

"Whoa, really?" The brunette leapt off her perch, grinning excitedly, "How's it like there?"

Miharu smiled faintly at her cousin. Agil explained the places he'd been or described some of the sights of his country while Hikari listened attentively. The blonde knew it was because her parents were there at the moment. The thought of them made her frown.

Did they even know they were trapped in a death game? Had their grandmother told them yet? What were things like in the outside world?

After bidding goodbye to Agil and adding each other to friend lists for future loot farming, they filed into their inn room. Hikari was instantly in her bed, curling up under the covers. Miharu rolled her eyes, opting to switch her clothes into more casual for a comfortable sleep.

"Miharu?"

"Yeah, I know." The blonde sighed, looking out the one window that viewed the square of the town below, "I miss them too."

"What do you think their doing now?"

Sitting on her bed, Miharu could stare out into the darkness, worried and anxious thoughts swarming her head. She shoved them away in favor of getting a good night's sleep.

"We'll be fine, Hikari." She said instead of the answer she already knew, "Everything will be fine."

For some reason, that felt like a lie.


	15. Chapter 15

DISCLAIMER: I do not own SAO

* * *

CHAPTER 15: The Meeting

* * *

They finally met up with Argo a few days later.

"You _really _couldn't find time in a whole month?" The girl asked incredulously. The cousin's simultaneously ducked their heads. They were all in a booth at the Tolbana inn. A lot more players now browsed the town, some actually enjoying the inn and conversing. It was starting to liven up.

"We've been working on skills." Miharu excused since her cousin wasn't going to answer. They were still recovering from the girl suddenly interrogating on them, their armor, Miharu's kick ass sword, and what they've been doing. At least she gave her a fishing pole as compensation.

Argo sighed, fixing her hood, "Well, whatever. I've got some good news and bad news for you two." She paused for a moment, Hikari comically leaning in. Miharu rolled her eyes at her cousin's excitement. Argo nodded.

"The good news is there's going to be a boss group meeting tomorrow afternoon."

"REALLY!?" Hikari hopped up in her seat, "You're not lying are you? Tell me you're not spamming bull shit!"

"Ari, shush!" The blonde hissed, shoving her cousin back in her seat when in seamed everyone's eyes were now on them. Argo smirked amusedly at the pair before frowning.

"The bad news is…you're starting to get noticed."

"Eh?" Hikari blinked, "How is that bad news?"

"Well, information passes fast." She explained vaguely, "And a lot of people are searching for 'the legendary duo' or whatever they're calling you two these days. Some people are just angry two great gamers didn't help the newbies out at the start."

Miharu paled, "Does that mean…?"

"Yeah." The younger girl nodded, "You're attracting two types of crowd now. Better watch who you trust."

"Pfft." Hikari crossed her arms with a roll of her eyes, "I'm as much a newbie as anyone else. If they wanna complain, they can do it to my boot."

Argo snorted. Miharu just sighed, mind swarming with disastrous thoughts before shaking her head.

"Have you been holding up well?" She asked. Argo hummed at the question before shrugging.

"I've got some new recruits out in the field, hunting information. No one's really suspected me of being you-know-what or you for that matter. But some are starting to get suspicious…" She trailed off, the booth lapsing into silence.

Miharu hated the thought of people discovering she was a beta tester. Not only would her life be in danger, but she'd be risking Hikari's life as well. Though, looking at the brunette, she didn't look the least bit bothered. Maybe a bit excited?

"Ne, Sora-chan." She poked her shoulder, jolting her from her thoughts.

"What?"

"How are you gonna share information with the boss raid without revealing you're a beta tester?"

Miharu groaned, slumping in her seat, "I didn't think of that."

Argo winced, "I can't think if anything that could help. It's best if you just keep silent."

The blonde pondered this, thinking it to be the best course of action. But it was a hard decision. Keep quiet and save her skin or speak up and most likely save half the raid group.

Hikari shrugged, her expression unreadable, "We'll still nail this. It'll be easy."

For a moment, Miharu felt a bit more relaxed at her relative's words, "I hope your right…"

"When am I not?"

"I'm not going to answer that."

Argo snickered, standing up, "Well, as much as I'd love to chat with you two, I've got wallets to raid. Catch ya later."

They waved, watching the broker disappear out the door. The booth was silent again besides Hikari's obnoxious chewing. She hadn't stopped eating the stale bread. Miharu rolled her eyes and crossed her arms with a sigh.

"What now?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Her companion gestured with her half eaten bread out the window, "We gotta kill us a Kobold."

Miharu smirked. She just hoped she wouldn't be the one leading that raid…

The next morning came with the two waking up extra early to get the supplies they needed. Hikari complained the whole time, wanting to get to the meeting place before anyone else. On the way, Miharu caught stares sent their way. It made her nervous, especially with her cousin being so loud.

It only made it worse when she caught wind of the casualties.

"Two thousand people have died…?" She stared ahead at the small coliseum they'd sat in. Hardly anyone filled it, around thirty at most. She didn't really care at that moment, still in shock of having being revealed something so awful. Beside her, Hikari shifted uneasily.

"Hey, it's alright…it's not our fault, ya know?"

"…yeah…" Miharu weakly nodded, "But…I can't help but feel like…"

She didn't get to say anymore when a blue haired man walked onto stage. He was dressed in steel armor, something smiths made. He clapped loudly to get everyone's attention, all conversations dying out.

"Thank you for coming today. My name is Diabel. I like to consider my 'job' as Knight!"

Hikari snorted as the rest of the crowd laughed. Miharu couldn't help the twitch of her lips at the lame class choice. Diabel waved for attention again, soberness washing over the crowd at the serious expression on his face.

"Today, our party found the boss room at the top of the tower."

Hikari blinked, looking at her cousin who also looked stunned. They'd only been able to reach the seventeenth floor of the dungeon so far. Who'd been able to reach the twentieth? Maybe it was a larger party then six? Or maybe…

"Beta testers…" The brunette mumbled and Miharu nodded.

Diabel continued after the crowds exclaims of shock, "We need to defeat the boss, reach the second floor, and tell everyone waiting in the Town of Beginnings that it is possible to beat this game. Everyone here present shares this duty!"

Miharu jolted, biting her lip. Hikari glanced at her cousin before sliding her eyes back over to the self-proclaimed knight. Her cousin wasn't doing so well with the guilt trip.

"Okay, then let's begin our planning. First, divide into parties of six."

The cousin's made no move; simply staying put having already been in their group since the death game started. Hikari snickered, drawing Miharu out of her inner panic. The brunette jabbed a thumb behind them where, not so surprisingly, Kirito sat, freaking out.

"Should we help?"

"He looks like he's got it handled." Hikari waved off, watching as he scooted over to a lone hooded player. They focused back on Diabel. He placed his hands on his hips, seeming to get excited.

"Everyone ready? Then-"

"Just a second!"

Everyone focused on a large played who practically hopped all the way down to the stage. He stopped before Diabel, turning around on the crowd with a scowl.

"My name's Kibaou. I wanna say something before we take on the boss."

"Huh?" Miharu hummed, "Pre-boss pep talk?"

Hikari shrugged, more focused on the fact that the guys hair stood out outrageously. The man, Kibaou, placed his hands on his hips in a similar fashion to Diabel.

"Some of you here need to apologize for the two thousand that have died so far!"

Immediately, Miharu tensed, sweat forming on her forehead. Hikari's eyes narrowed on the man.

"Kibaou-san, are you referring to the beta testers?" Diabel asked calmly as the crowd glanced around nervously.

"Of course I am! On the day this stupid game started, the beta guys ditched us beginners, and they all disappeared. They took all the good hunting spots and easy quests for themselves, so only they could get stronger. And then, they just ignored the rest of us."

He turned, pointing an accusing finger at the crowd, "I'm sure someone here was in the beta!"

Miharu clenched her fists, biting her lip. She felt her will steadily breaking. Kibaou wasn't finished though.

"They should get on their knees and apologize, and give up all the money and items they've hoarded. Otherwise, we can't trust them to protect us as party members, and they shouldn't trust us!"

She knew she had to do something. Besides Kirito, she was probably one of the best beta testers. She was one of the main people he was referring to. She had to say something! Something to stop this madness!

"May I speak?"

Everyone's head snapped over to, surprisingly, Agil, walking up to the stage.

"My name is Agil. Tell me if I'm wrong, but you're saying that all this is the beta tester's blame? You got this guidebook, didn't you?"

He pulled out a familiar brown book, one Miharu had seen many times with Argo. She knew the broker had written it, mostly from their experiences. She let out a quiet breath of relief. Her cousin had remained eerily silent the whole time.

Agil went on to explain the books properties and how it was written by a beta tester. Kibaou reluctantly let the subject drop and Diabel awkwardly took back over the conference. He explained the boss, mostly from the guidebook, before announcing they were going to go forth with the raid the following morning at ten. As everyone started to depart, Miharu gave a shaky sigh.

Hikari noticed and smiled grimly, "At least no one noticed us…"

"They definitely did, Ari. They looked…intimidated. Like they didn't want to bring it up."

The brunette stared at her distraught cousin for a long moment, an idea slowly forming in her head. She smirked, standing and tossing her hands behind her head. Miharu caught this and scowled.

"You're planning something, aren't you? Ari, I swear to Kami if you screw this up-"

"Ma, relax, Sora-chan." Hikari snickered, leading them away from the crowd. They'd lost sight of Kirito, Agil, and Diabel, but they spotted Kibaou somewhere near them and were quick to make their escape. No doubt he'd already heard the rumors of one of them being a beta tester. The problem was they didn't know which one. Hikari's smile grew.

Miharu growled, crossing her arms, "I'm not in the mood for your games. Whatever you're planning to do, don't. It's going to fail."

"My dear cousin." Hikari's smile turned mischievous, "Since when have any of my plans ever failed?"

Thinking back to Hyperion, Miharu couldn't help but groan.


End file.
